Living wage campaigning

A final version of this paper has been published in Working USA: Tattersall, A., D, Reynolds 2007. The Shifting Power of Labor-Community Coalitions: Identifying Common Elements of Powerful Coalitions in Australia and the USA. Working USA 10 (March), 77-102.

Abstract: This paper presents and explores a theoretical framework of common features across labor-community coalitions. While researchers in both the U.S. and Australia have written about labor-community coalitions, most of this work has focused on profiling “best practices” rather than building a framework for understanding coalition such work in general.  This paper argues that all coalitions are defined by four common elements: the nature of common concern, the structure of organizational relationships, organizational capacity and commitment, and the scale of coalition activity. It then uses these elements to identify four different ideal types of coalitions, varying from ad hoc coalitions, to simple coalitions, to mutual interest coalitions to deep coalitions.  The paper illustrates the usefulness of this framework by using it to examine sample coalition experiences in the U.S. and Australia.  The Australian case displays variation in coalition type within a single ongoing campaign around public education.  By contrast, eight sample U.S. living wage efforts demonstrate variation in coalition type among different campaigns.

Download the full article: Tattersall Reynolds Shifting Power