A world systems analysis of union membership and support for government spending on environmental protection

This article contributes to debates about trade unions and the environment by studyinginternational variation in the association between union membership and support forgovernment spending on environmental protection. Building on research which demonstrates a positive membership effect on support for environmental protection, the article extends the geographical scope beyond the more economically developed contextsstudied previously. Using World Systems Theory as a comparative framework, distinguishing between core, semi-periphery, and periphery states, the article exploreswhether the positive membership effect extends beyond more affluent core statesand reveals an intriguing empirical puzzle: while public support for environmental spending is substantially weaker in core states relative to non-core states, the latter being subject to more extensive environmental threats, the reverse holds for the membershipeffect on environmental spending support which instead tends to be more positive incore states. Union membership thus tends to have the largest positive impact on environmental spending support in countries where public support for such spending tendsto be lower. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the global effortto address an ongoing environmental crisis are discussed by considering the notion of asolidarity effect.
The paper was included as a 'manuscript' in doctoral thesis entitled " When workers unionize: Trade union effects on management-worker conflict and attitudes towards immediate interests versus broader political agendas" KUS 2024:1. Downloads before file update (240709): 44