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International Trade Union Development Cooperation: A Case Study of the Swedish Organisation Union to Union

Naeslund, Jonna LU (2025) STVK12 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Union to Union is a Swedish organisation that works with development aid in order to strengthen labour rights through international development cooperation with trade unions across the world, by working with development projects in countries where trade unions are weak. Even though trade union cooperation has existed for many decades, this type of development work is unusual between trade unions, which makes the organisation an interesting case to study since it gives an unique insight into how development cooperation can look like. This thesis aims to provide a qualitative case study of Union to Union and seeks to answer what challenges is Union to Union facing when working to strengthening labour rights through international development... (More)
Union to Union is a Swedish organisation that works with development aid in order to strengthen labour rights through international development cooperation with trade unions across the world, by working with development projects in countries where trade unions are weak. Even though trade union cooperation has existed for many decades, this type of development work is unusual between trade unions, which makes the organisation an interesting case to study since it gives an unique insight into how development cooperation can look like. This thesis aims to provide a qualitative case study of Union to Union and seeks to answer what challenges is Union to Union facing when working to strengthening labour rights through international development cooperation and what strategies does the organisation apply to handle the challenges. The data is based on interviews with employees at the organisation, reports and the organisations Strategy plan 2022-2027. The data is thematically analysed through the lenses of transnational advocacy networks, labour internationalism and dependency theory. The finding suggests that there are both internal and external challenges for the organisation, but also direct and indirect strategies to address them. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Naeslund, Jonna LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK12 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
trade unions, case study, international development cooperation, development aid, international trade union cooperation
language
English
id
9189705
date added to LUP
2025-08-07 16:28:44
date last changed
2025-08-07 16:28:44
@misc{9189705,
  abstract     = {{Union to Union is a Swedish organisation that works with development aid in order to strengthen labour rights through international development cooperation with trade unions across the world, by working with development projects in countries where trade unions are weak. Even though trade union cooperation has existed for many decades, this type of development work is unusual between trade unions, which makes the organisation an interesting case to study since it gives an unique insight into how development cooperation can look like. This thesis aims to provide a qualitative case study of Union to Union and seeks to answer what challenges is Union to Union facing when working to strengthening labour rights through international development cooperation and what strategies does the organisation apply to handle the challenges. The data is based on interviews with employees at the organisation, reports and the organisations Strategy plan 2022-2027. The data is thematically analysed through the lenses of transnational advocacy networks, labour internationalism and dependency theory. The finding suggests that there are both internal and external challenges for the organisation, but also direct and indirect strategies to address them.}},
  author       = {{Naeslund, Jonna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{International Trade Union Development Cooperation: A Case Study of the Swedish Organisation Union to Union}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}