Neoliberalism by stealth? Labour reforms and institutional discontinuity in worker representation in France

Heather Connolly, Élodie Béthoux, Rémi Bourguignon, Arnaud Mias, Paul Tainturier and Pauline de Becdelièvre
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Heather Connolly: Grenoble École de Management, France
Élodie Béthoux: ENS de Lyon, Centre Max Weber, France
Rémi Bourguignon: Université Paris-Est Créteil, IRG, France
Arnaud Mias: Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, IRISSO, France
Paul Tainturier: Nantes Université, LEMNA, France
Pauline de Becdelièvre: ENS Paris-Saclay, IDHES, France

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2025, vol. 46, issue 2, 546-567

Abstract: This article analyses the 2017 reforms to worker representation in France, focusing on the transition and implementation phases. The authors conducted 160 interviews with managers, union and employee representatives in seven large French companies across retail, finance, energy and pharmaceuticals. The article introduces the notion of institutional discontinuity to describe the path taken through the 2017 reforms, where a change to the formal institutional structures is expected to bring about a change in the functioning of representative institutions. The findings contribute to debates on the trajectories of employment relations in France. The authors argue that institutional discontinuity has opened a wider path towards more discretion-enhancing representative institutions, reflecting a clearer neoliberal path in employment relations. Yet, recognising that changing institutional form does not necessarily, nor automatically result in institutions functioning differently, the authors also analyse how actors play a role in shaping the process, whether they try to facilitate the change or to limit its effects.

Keywords: Employment relations; France; institutional change; neoliberalism; representation; unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:546-567

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X241268171

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