Forces of reproduction and change in collective bargaining: A social field perspective

Susanne Pernicka, Vera Glassner, Nele Dittmar and Klaus Neundlinger
Additional contact information
Susanne Pernicka: Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Vera Glassner: Chamber of Labour, Austria
Nele Dittmar: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Klaus Neundlinger: institute for cultural excellence, Austria

European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021, vol. 27, issue 3, 345-363

Abstract: The paper addresses the endurance of sector collective bargaining despite many announcements of its demise. Bourdieusian social theory is used to interpret collective bargaining as a dominated social field that is distinct and relatively autonomous from other economic, political and transnational fields. Empirically, we trace the trajectories of German and Italian metal sector’s collective bargaining fields. In Germany, field agents contributed to a continuing erosion of collective bargaining, regional differentiation of membership strategies, and a reorientation of dominated employers’ associations towards their members. In Italy, some field agents resisted supranational and national liberalization demands and contributed to the adaptation and innovation of bargaining practices and hence, to the preliminary re-stabilization and re-balancing of collective bargaining between industry and company level.

Keywords: Bourdieu; collective bargaining; employer associations; Germany; habitus; Italy; metalworking; social field (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eurjou:v:27:y:2021:i:3:p:345-363

DOI: 10.1177/0959680121998478

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