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WWW.ROGERLYONS.COM wins academic praise

An Academic study by John Hogan and Anne-marie Greene from Warwick Business School has praised the website rogerlyons.com. "It stands as one of the most extensive examples of the auditing, archiving and mobilising capacity of a contemporary lay activist web site and has been developed in order to force accountability and democratic processes within a trade union hierarchy."

The study is based on accepted Trade Union Renewal Theory and on Mobilisation Theory but strongly argues the importance of internal union democracy and the significant role played by ordinary members and lay activists. Aside from the website praise, it contains important messages for activists wishing to re-invigorate a Blairite and dying union like Amicus:

"There has been a distinct move in recent years, away from renewal strategies based around recruitment and servicing of members (designed to increase membership numbers) towards organising and mobilising members (designed to increase participation and activism of members). This is not least because the servicing strategies of the 1980s and early 1990s appear to have been singularly unsuccessful." What, MSF First credit cards, unsuccessful??

"One of the established pre-requisites of renewal thesis involves the need for union structures and leadership to be more accountable and more representative, with procedures allowing increased member participation in decision-making and policy formulation. There is thus an explicit concern to revive or revitalise the trade union movement by having decision-making bodies that are more representative of membership."

The report paints a utopian picture unfamiliar to MSF or AEEU members:

"A participatory and collectivist style of union leadership would be more representative (demonstrating commitment to the interests which members express), more accountable (consulting and reporting back to membership and adhering to membership decisions), and more involved (drawing members into workplace decision-making). Such democratic processes could thus challenge the oligarchy of union leadership. In terms of mobilisation theory, identification with the union, and willingness to take collective action in support of that collective organisation, is thus seen as dependent, at least partly on how accountable, transparent and representative, the leadership of the union is seen to be."

Read the full paper E-collectivism: On-line action and on-line mobilisation by John Hogan and Anne Marie Greene.
Posted www.rogerlyons.com on 13th February 2002