Introduction
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Networks of Financial Power in Iceland: The Labour Movement Paradox
by Herdís Dröfn Baldvinsdóttir.
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Curriculum Vitae available to view here
Abstract
The study aims to explore co-operation between employers and the labour movement in the financial sector in Iceland, especially in the private pension fund industry. The thesis objective is to assess the consequences of this co-operation and the paradox it poses for the labour movement, in that it renders them strong and weak. Another main objective of the thesis is to give an insight into the current power structure in Iceland.
The study uses social network analysis and the concept of interlocking directorships to guide the research and the analysis. The data is predominantly relational data. That is, the data collected are contacts, ties and connections, which relate one actor to another and so can not be reduced to the properties of the individual actors themselves. Relational data emphasis upon the investigation of the structure of social action and structures are built from relations, such as interlocking directorships, kinship patterns, corporate and community structure.
The evidence shows that there exists a strong 'ruling élite' in Iceland, which has its basis in the large corporations and financial institutions, has potential control over the corporate community and plays a major role in shaping the social and political climate. The 'ruling élite' is socially and economically cohesive, which is manifested in common stock ownership and most visibly in the complex pattern of interlocking directorships that unites the corporate community and creates a dense communication network. This has contributed to economic concentration and centralisation. The findings indicate that through co-operation with employers in the private pension fund industry, the labour movement has been incorporated into this external power structure, through a vast and complicated network of personal, financial and interlocking directorships. That is the main paradox of the labour movement: it has become weak for its members and strong for the 'ruling élite'.
To read more, please download the complete thesis by Herdís Dröfn Baldvinsdóttir Ph.D. |
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