A world systems analysis of union membership and support for government spending on environmental protection

Abstract

This article contributes to debates about trade unions and the environment by studying international variation in the association between union membership and support for government spending on environmental protection. Building on research which demonstrates a positive membership effect on support for environmental protection, the article extends the geographical scope beyond the more economically developed contexts studied previously. Using World Systems Theory as a comparative framework, distinguishing between core, semi-periphery, and periphery states, the article explores whether the positive membership effect extends beyond more affluent core states and reveals an intriguing empirical puzzle: while public support for environmental spending is substantially weaker in core states relative to non-core states, the latter being subject to more extensive environmental threats, the reverse holds for the membership effect on environmental spending support which instead tends to be more positive in core states. Union membership thus tends to have the largest positive impact on environmental spending support in countries where public support for such spending tends to be lower. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the global effort to address an ongoing environmental crisis are discussed by considering the notion of a solidarity effect.