This is a comparative study of how workers and their unions respond to privatisation. Drawing
upon research from a variety of disciplines the author examines the push toward privatisation
in diverse national settings its profound impact on organised labour and the often innovative
responses of workers and their unions in the affected industries. By means of a detailed
analysis of the privatisation of the electricity industries in the United Kingdom and Argentina
and the various initiatives of workers and their trade unions in these two countries this book
offers an engaging comparative case study that sheds new light on key issues in contemporary
labour studies: the strategic choices available to workers and their organisations when faced
with the radical restructuring of their industries the types of resources available to trade
unions and how they are mobilised and the impact of widespread worker unrest on their
organisations. This book also provides fresh insight into the use of mobilisation theory in the
field of labour studies. The author employs mobilisation theory to make sense of worker and
trade union responses to privatisation and he argues that this theoretical framework can be
useful for cross-national comparisons.
