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Symbolic Networks: The Realignment of the French Working Class, 188718941

Symbolic Networks: The Realignment of the French Working Class, 188718941 How can abstract symbols provide the basis for organizational cohesion? In the early 1890s, the general strike provided such a symbol for French trade unions. In rallying around this symbol, the unions broke free from competing political loyalties and brought about a fundamental realignment of the French labor movement. The article argues that organizational cohesion emerges through the interplay between powerful symbols, political discourse, and social or interorganizational networks. Using archival records and a statistical analysis of the watershed vote for the general strike, the author demonstrates how the organizing power of this symbol was embedded in local multitrade union federations known as bourses du travail and in the corporatist discourse they evoked. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Sociology University of Chicago Press

Symbolic Networks: The Realignment of the French Working Class, 188718941

Ansell, Christopher K.
American Journal of Sociology , Volume 103 (2): 32 – Sep 1, 1997
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Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Copyright
1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0002-9602
eISSN
1537-5390
DOI
10.1086/231211
Publisher site
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Abstract

How can abstract symbols provide the basis for organizational cohesion? In the early 1890s, the general strike provided such a symbol for French trade unions. In rallying around this symbol, the unions broke free from competing political loyalties and brought about a fundamental realignment of the French labor movement. The article argues that organizational cohesion emerges through the interplay between powerful symbols, political discourse, and social or interorganizational networks. Using archival records and a statistical analysis of the watershed vote for the general strike, the author demonstrates how the organizing power of this symbol was embedded in local multitrade union federations known as bourses du travail and in the corporatist discourse they evoked.

Journal

American Journal of Sociology – University of Chicago Press

Published: Sep 1, 1997

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