Working the Crisis - Crisis Interpretations and Crisis Policies of Trade Unions in Germany and Great Britain

Post-Doc Project

The project at the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University Bochum (ISB Bochum) was a sub-project in the Research Group "History of Left Politics in Germany Beyond Social Democracy and Party Communism", a cooperation between the ZZF Potsdam and the ISB Bochum from 2014-2018. At the ZZF Potsdam, it was headed by Professor Mario Keßler. Ralf Hoffrogge coordinated the doctoral program.

The project examines crisis perceptions and crisis policies in two German and British trade unions in a long-term comparison. In particular, the post-war crisis 1919-1926 and the structural change at the end of the 1970s are examined. Trade unions of the metal industry are chosen as case studies: the Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband (DMV) and its successor Industriegewerkschaft Metall (IGM)" as well as the British Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU).