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Towards a New Flashmob Unionism: The Case of the Fight for 15 Movement
Author(s) -
Pasquier Vincent,
Daudigeos Thibault,
Barros Marcos
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/bjir.12507
Subject(s) - collectivism , movement (music) , camouflage , process (computing) , action (physics) , sociology , political science , political economy , computer science , artificial intelligence , law , aesthetics , individualism , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , operating system
Unionism renewal has been described as a hybridization process between ‘old’ and ‘new’ logics. Understanding how these two potentially conflicting logics might be combined, however, has so far received little attention. Through the study of the Fight for 15 (FF15) movement, we investigate how the old ‘collectivist’ logic of action‐oriented unions and the new ‘connectivist’ logic are being hybridized. To do so, we develop a mixed‐methods approach that combines interviews with Twitter data. We evidence three mechanisms through which the collectivist and connectivist logics are being hybridized, namely, imbrication, camouflage and cumulation. We suggest to name ‘flashmob unionism’ the hybrid logic of FF15, characterized by apparently spontaneous mobilizations, a loosely co‐ordinated organization, a personalized communication and online virality.