European Working Lives: Continuities and Change in Management and Industrial Relations in France, Scandinavia and the UK - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1840644761 ISBN 13: 9781840644760

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

While the debate on the impact of globalisation on the organisation of business is well established, its impact on working life has been left relatively untouched. This groundbreaking book attempts to redress this imbalance by examining the effect of globalisation on the institutions, processes and practices of working life in France, Scandinavia and the UK. The contributors examine global trends such as the decentralisation of industrial relations and the revival of neo-liberalism, and discuss them from a theoretical and empirical perspective. They go on to argue that these global trends can really only exist in nationally specific contexts and focus on the changing roles of trade union and labour movements in representing workers' interests. They trace the emergence of new European institutional and political dimensions of working, and attempt to answer the question of how converged, diverged or revised European working practices have become. The book concentrates on various aspects of working life to illustrate the variety of change and complexity and asserts the view that it is not possible to isolate abstract global trends from national, historical and social factors. Indeed, certain phenomena such as politics, gender and culture play an important role, the authors argue, in differentiating national experiences which can superficially appear to be similar global trends. European Working Lives will be of great interest to labour and social economists, industrial sociologists, employment policymakers and trade unions.

About this title

Review

‘While some books on global trends take a rather abstract approach, this volume stands out for its focus on a wide variety of familiar aspects of working life, such as flexibility, new managerial methods and training. The richness of the cases and analyses from manufacturing and service industries is a welcome addition to the literature and a source of inspiration for further research.’ Author: Peter Leisink, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

From the Author

Edited by Steve Jefferys, formerly Professor of European Employment Studies and Director, Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, UK, Frederik Mispelblom Beyer, Professor of Sociology, University of Paris–Évry, France and Christer Thörnqvist, ISV - Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University Sweden

About this edition

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1840644761
• ISBN 13: 9781840644760
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Jeffreys Steve, Beyer Frederik M., Thörnqvist Christer