New Patterns of Industrial Relations and Political Action since the 1980s

Industrial relations can be defined as a set of social institutions that link the market, civil society, and public action. Is the French system of industrial relations unique? In international comparisons, researchers tend to stress the role of laws in the making of rules that govern employment and labor relations. Certainly in comparison with the American model, the French state has a very different place in the industrial relations process. Yet the role of the state varies considerably from one sector to another, making it difficult to locate the French case among the categories frequently used in industrial relation theories, such as neo-corporatism or pluralism (Saglio 1990). That is especially true at the present time, since French industrial relations have undergone many fundamental changes over the last two decades. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.