Union democracy from below : social media, gender, and online grassroots activism
Friis Hau, Mark (University of Copenhagen)
Wesley Hansen, Nana (University of Copenhagen)
Molina Romo, Óscar 1962- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sociologia)
Barranco Font, Oriol (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sociologia)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Centre d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball - QUIT
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut d'Estudis del Treball

Date:	2026
Description:	25 pàg.
Abstract:	We examine how digital platforms transform traditional patterns of grassroots labor mobilization through a comparative analysis of two cases: the 2021 formation of Foreningen af Danske Sygeplejersker (FDS) by nurses in Denmark and Las Kellys, an association of Spanish hotel chambermaids. While both organizations emerged from female-dominated sectors, their divergent trajectories show how institutional contexts and professional identities shape digital organizing outcomes. Through analysis of social media data and interviews, we show how these groups used digital platforms to simultaneously maintain multiple forms of engagement: building collective identity among dispersed workers, challenging union leadership, and gaining public visibility. In Denmark, FDS's targeted social media approach harnessed nurses' professional cohesion to successfully pressure their union into adapting wage demands, eventually leading to accommodation within existing structures. In Spain, Las Kellys' broader community-building strategy helped overcome worker isolation but resulted in organizational fragmentation, with some chapters becoming formal unions while others remained associations. The comparison reveals how similar digital tools can produce different organizational outcomes depending on workers' structural position and unions' capacity for democratic renewal. Our findings contribute to understanding how digital platforms enable sustained grassroots engagement while highlighting the continued importance of institutional contexts and union democratic practices in shaping labor movement trajectories.
Note:	Altres ajuts: programa de investigación de la FAOS (2019-2024); Fundación Betiko
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Labor organizing ; Social media ; Union democracy ; Union competition ; Grassroots unionism ; Mobilization
Published in:	European Societies, Vol. 28, Num. 2 (2026) , p. 383-407, ISSN 1469-8307

DOI: 10.1162/EUSO.a.36

25 p, 426.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre d’Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles