ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding the growing number of women in European labour markets and trade unions, neither women nor gender have been central themes within the study of industrial relations (Forrest 1993; Wajcman 2000; Hansen 2002; Danieli 2006; Healy et al. 2006. Feminist authors have tried to explain this gap through studies of gender relations in trade unions, focusing on barriers to women's participation (Wertheimer and Nelson 1975; Harrison 1979; Trebilcock 1991; Sinclair 1996; Kirton 2005). Others concentrate on women's activism (Ledwith et al. 1990; Lawrence 1994; Cunnison and Stageman 1995; Kirton 1999; Harrington 2001; Cunnison 2002; Foley 2003, women's organising (Briskin 1999; Forrest 2001; Parker 2002 or women's representation (Heery and Kelly 1988; Dorgan and Grieco 1993; Cockburn 1996; Forrest 2000; McBride 2001; Briskin 2004 and 2006; Kirton 2006. These Anglophone writers approach women's involvement from the perspective of trade union decline, which involves the risk of a ‘representation gap’ if not all target groups are represented (Freeman and Rogers 1993; Towers 1997.
