The transformation of Industrial Citizenship in the course of European integration

Br J Sociol. 2020 Nov;71(5):852-866. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12792. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Abstract

The question of the social dimension of European integration has so far remained unsettled. While on the European level, the civil and political dimension of citizenship has been strengthened, the evolution of economic and social rights are unclear, contradictory-and still under-investigated. Our contribution applies citizenship as a central category of modernization theory to inquire into European integration. In particular, our focus is set on the analysis of Economic Citizenship as a specific category of civil rights in the case of Germany. We discuss these dynamics by drawing on the example of three policy fields which illustrate various levels of Economic Citizenship. In this article we are pursuing two goals: Firstly, we revise Marshall's modernization theory against the background of European integration. Secondly, we draw attention to the concept of Industrial Citizenship, which has so far been neglected as a source of further development. We argue that in the process of European integration, industrial rights develop through a double movement, meaning an individual extension of market-based rights complemented through national de-collectivization and-connected to this-a re-stratification of market correcting rights.

Keywords: European integration; Industrial Citizenship; T. H. Marshall; Trade Unions; citizenship.

MeSH terms

  • Civil Rights*
  • Europe
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Industry
  • Politics
  • Public Policy*
  • Social Change*
  • Social Class
  • Social Participation*