Unions as Social Capital: Renewal through a Return to the Logic of Mutual Aid?

This paper argues that unions can increase both the normative and instrumental value of trade unionism if they organize their activities and functions around regulating and extending the naturally occurring social networks that tie members together in workplaces. In so doing, the paper analyzes how the service model of unionism has contributed to shop-floor weakness, identifies the basic logic and limitations of the organizing model, and details the practices and structures that would be integral to organizing unions around social-capital formation and mutual-aid functions.