Learning from the New Deal for a Green Transformation
The importance of trade unions
Abstract
The U.S. New Deal under President Roosevelt has become a broadly shared historical point of reference for a ‘Green New Deal’ of the 2020s. In fact, given the enormous, albeit very different, challenges faced by these two massive reform projects, it is worth taking a closer look not only or primarily at what was done in the 1930s, but above all at how it was put into practice. The present article highlights some of the policy lessons to be learnt by the New Deal of the 1930s for the political and societal process that is necessary to drive forward a “Green and Just Transition” today — in particular regarding the socio-ecological transformation of industry and the importance of trade unions in this process by the example of Germany.
Key words:
New Deal, Green and Just Transition, socio-ecological transformation, trade unions
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