Culture, Solidarity and the Ideal of Sustainability : Norwegian and Chinese Trade Unions A Comparative Approach

The study describes the relationship between the culture of trade unions, solidarity and sustainable development. The major objective is to show how the culture of trade unions affects their perceptions of sustainable development. This has been done throug a comparative, interdisciplinary study of LO in Norway and ACFTU in China. The main finding is that although the nature and goal of trade unions and their culture of solidarity are well alligned with the ideal of sustainable development, evidence shows that little work is done in practice. It has been argued that trade unions have not been willing to carry the burden in order to change consumptions patterns or the mode of production. If trade unions continue to overlook their solidarity duties, workers will remain economically and environmentally victimised. Culture, solidarity and the Ideal of Sustainability in Norwegian and Chinese Trade Unions is a Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Culture, Environment and Sustainability.