The seminar focused on the evolution of the French labor movement, exploring its historical challenges, low union membership, and the state’s interventionist role. Despite a high collective bargaining coverage, unions face declining influence and membership. Contemporary issues include technological impacts on employment and rising right-wing politics, complicating future labor dynamics.
This 1971 book examines syndicalism’s influence on the French Labour movement before World War I. It highlights how syndicalist leaders educated workers on striking for better wages and conditions, leading to increased activism. However, as non-syndicalist unions emerged, syndicalist ideas waned due to improved worker conditions and socioeconomic changes in France.
View More Review: Revolutionary Syndicalism and French Labor: A Cause Without Rebels – by Peter N. Stearns