Interviews were undertaken with trade union officials in to ascertain whether there are links between someone joining a trade union and their family history, or the history of the place where they live. Interviews focused on the participant's experiences of trade unionism, their reasons for joining a trade union and what trade unionism meant to them. This project explored geographical variations in trade union membership in Wales. Previous WISERD research in South Wales suggested that collective understandings, rooted in an earlier period of unionisation, are spilling over into the contemporary period. This project specifically investigated the concept of ‘spillover’ and whether geographical variations in membership levels can be attributed to differences in the nature and activities of trade unions and the attitudes of employers and workers. We also considered how mechanisms of intra-generational and inter-generational transmission and geographical mobility relate to variations of trade union membership. The project also examined how trade unions (and their form) contribute to other dimensions of social capital and whether there is geographical variation in this. The project adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining secondary quantitative data analysis with qualitative interviews. This collection of qualitative interviews was produced as a result. This proposal is for a National Research Centre (WISERD/Civil Society) to undertake a five year programme of policy relevant research addressing Civil Society in Wales. Established in 2008, WISERD provides an 'All-Wales' focus for research and has had a major impact on the quantity and quality of social science research undertaken in Wales. As part of WISERD, WISERD/Civil Society will enable this work to be deepened and sustained through a focused research programme that further develops our research expertise, intensifies our policy impact and knowledge exchange work and strengthens our research capacity and career development activities. WISERD/Civil Society will therefore aim to develop key aspects of the multidisciplinary research initiated during the first phase of WISERD's work to produce new empirical evidence to inform our understanding of the changing nature of civil society in the context of devolved government and processes of profound social and economic change. There are many disagreements over what civil society is and how it may be changing. We do know that over the last forty years there have been unprecedented changes in the spheres of economy and industry, politics and governance, social relations and individual life courses. How individuals in local contexts are affected by and respond to dramatic institutional changes is not well understood. An important gap in our knowledge is in describing and explaining the impact of social change on local forms of civil society and civil society organisations and what this means for social cohesion and well-being. In addition how different forms of civil society are developing in the context of multi-level and devolved government is not well understood. Because of its size and devolved government, Wales offers a unique context for studying these issues. Viewing Wales as a 'laboratory for social science' the proposed centre will build on existing networks of researchers who have a wide range of expertise and skills. Large survey data sets will be exploited and analysed and new data collected on civil society in Wales, the UK and Europe. Inter-disciplinarity and multi-method approaches applied to longitudinal and comparative data will be a key feature and strength of the WISERD/Civil Society research programme. Our research will be underpinned by three principles: (i) to maximise research impact, (ii) to become a centre of excellence for comparative, longitudinal, and relational research methods and (iii) to contribute to the growth of research capacity in Wales. We will also extend our research out from Wales to undertake comparative studies at different regional, national and international levels. In this way WISERD will make substantive and novel contributions to the advancement of social theory applied to researching contemporary civil society and to methodological approaches to describing and explaining patterns of civic participation in the context of devolution and multi-level governance. Substantive research will be applied to real and timely research problems conducted under four inter-related themes: 1) Locality, Community and Civil Society 2) Individuals, Institutions and Governance 3) Economic Austerity, Social Enterprise and Inequality 4) Generation, Life Course and Social Participation. Our aim will be to produce a wide range of outputs accessible to a variety of different audiences, including: academic papers; books; working papers; seminars; web based material; video and e-learning materials; as well as disseminating our work through a diversity of activities. Public awareness will be raised through events; activities; and exhibitions, designed to foster interest and encourage discussion and debate. WISERD/Civil Society will have a strong management structure, substantial institutional support, and close links with relevant organisations, and will provide substantive career development for new and early-career researchers and PhD students.

This collection contains 41 semi-structured qualitative interviews. Purposive sampling was undertaken for the identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the geographical variations in the trade union membership phenomenon. This involved identifying a selected sample of trade union officials living in South Wales. The sample was designed to include a range of communities and trade unions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at a time and location of the participant's choosing. A brief introduction to the study was provided before completing the interview.