Positive economics

Performative utterance

Sociology

Social dialogue

Social science

Politics

Epistemology

Labour economics

Philosophy

Political economy

Political science

Psychology

Economics

Law and economics

Representation (politics)

Embeddedness

Trade union

Representativeness heuristic

Social psychology

European Journal of Industrial Relations

Trade unions have been charged with neglecting labour market ‘outsiders’, while alternative actors have emerged to represent these. In response, unions have stepped up their claim to be representative of all workers, without distinction. We review the theoretical and policy debates on this issue, and argue that representation as such has been under-theorized. We draw on Saward’s concept of ‘representative claims’ to analyse the different grounds for competing assertions of representativeness. We identify four main forms of claims, and illustrate these with empirical examples. We conclude that these different claims are mutually reinforcing in stimulating attention to the outsiders, and in their interaction with institutional settings, they have a performative effect in defining new social actors.

Trade unions and precariat in Europe: Representative claims