Capital and Labor: Concepts and Practice of Industrial Relations in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The chapter identifies the ‘Sozialpartnerschaft’ (social partnership), that is the particular organization of industrial relations as an important difference of the institutional structure of German-coordinated capitalism in comparison with Great Britain and the USA. It gives an overview over the emergence and evolution of this particular relationship, which without doubt contributed to the country’s economic success. The article starts with a general periodization along four major stages and introduces the core features of the ‘Sozialpartnerschaft’. It then discusses the changing influence of the state within the system of industrial relations and the economic consequences of these relations. The chapter finally deals with the question, whether the particular organization of industrial relations can survive the pressure resulting from globalization processes and if the model is competitive on a global scale.

First Publication: Werner Plumpe, Kapital und Arbeit. Konzept und Praxis der industriellen Beziehungen im 20. Jahrhundert, in: Reinhard Spree (ed.), Geschichte der deutschen Wirtschaft im 20. Jahrhundert, Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2001, 178–99.