Individualism and collectivism revisited: a study of black and minority ethnic women

Abstract

This article seeks to add discussion of the intersection of gender and ethnicity to the debates on individualism and collectivism. In doing so, it challenges the prevailing view, in these debates, of the rise of individualism and the decline in collectivism. Through a study of black and minority ethnic women trade unionists, it shows how a differentiated workforce, rather than leading to individualism at work, may contribute to union renewal and inspire more creative forms of collectivism.The distinction between individualism and collectivism has come to form one of the key axes along which debates on industrial relations have been conducted and discussion on their balance has been wide-ranging and contested (Kessler and Purcell, 2003). Trade unions have long been seen as a main site for the development of collective values and a rise in individualism has often been linked to a decline in trade union membership and social power (Pakulski and Waters, 1996;Willis, 1990). It has been argued that trade unions themselves have responded to socioeconomic changes by changing their policies and style to focus more on individual members in response to the individualisation of the employment relationship.The debates in industrial relations are set against sociological theses asserting broad sweeps of individualisation as part of the development of modernist and capitalist societies (Beck, 1992;Giddens, 1990;Valkenburg, 1995). Against this contested backdrop, the article aims to illuminate the complex nature of individualism and collectivism by exploring the intersection of gender and ethnicity in trade unions and thereby challenge thinking on individualism and collectivism that is framed in a dichotomous, unidirectional and imprecise way.The article will revisit the debates on individualism and collectivism, with particular emphasis on the differentiation of the workforce. After discussing our fieldwork, we shall focus on three issues, which show how the intersection of gender and ethnicity can illuminate debates on collectivism. We discuss solidaristic collectivism (exploring the routes to and the experience of solidarism); instrumental collectivism; and the limits to collectivism. Whilst we distinguish analytically between these two types of collectivism, in practice they overlap and interrelate.

De-collectivization and employment problems: the experiences of minority ethnic workers seeking help through Citizens Advice

“…Although a study of the civil justice system found that minority ethnic respondents were no more likely to experience workplace problems than white respondents (O'Grady et al, 2005), the URWS found that minority ethnic workers were over-represented in the sample (which, by definition, contained only workers with problems at work) compared with their representation among the low-paid, non-unionized in the labour force. This suggests greater vulnerability to problems and supports evidence that minority ethnic workers are at a greater disadvantage in the labour market as a result of prejudice, racism and xenophobia (Healy et al, 2004).…”

Contextualizing Voice and Stakeholders: Researching Employment Relations, Immigration and Trade Unions

“…The lack of interface with the insights gained from the gender and Industrial Relations debate is a curious gap in this current wave of research on immigration. Healy et al (2004) do link these debates because of their focus on black women but they are relatively isolated. The gender-related debate implied a very serious critique of the historical packaging of Industrial Relations given its exclusion of women in key parts of the economy yet the immigrant debate until recently seems less concerned with this-perhaps because trade unions themselves are victims of the new employer and employment order but it is more likely to be that the point of emphasis in the debate is seen from the point of the view of the concern with and the question of trade union renewal.…”

“…The study of Healy et al (2004) has focused on the way gender and racially motivated exploitation configures the character of politics and activism within black female workers in the public sector in the United Kingdom, for example. This links with the increasing interest in intersectionality, which focuses on the way different types of inequality combine within different constituencies and give rise to a variable set of needs and politics (Verloo 2006).…”

Late Modernity, Individualization and Socialism

“…Returning to the interactionist critique, being active within a certain field can lead to the realization that a person's interests reconcile with others -in short, that the individual's concerns can best be considered as part of a collective organization, such as a trade union (Madsen 1997). For Healy, Bradley and Mukherjee (2004), this reflects a shift towards 'instrumental collective' justifications for joining a union where, although the initial impetus to join may be due to individually directed motives, these are based within, and develop according to, a collectivity. Individualization does not spell the end of trade unions; rather, 'collective orientations are never given, but must be developed, fought for and sustained by individuals' (Healy et al 2004:464).…”