The crumbling pillars of social partnership

Introduction:

The discussion will proceed as follows. Starting with a brief recapitulation of the origin and the architecture of post-war German social partnership, it will examine the emerging conflicts of the 1980s and the crisis caused in the 1990s by unification and European integration and then trace the erosion of the organisational strength of business and labour that began in the 1980s and rapidly accelerated in the 1990s.

Next, it will recount the experience of the Schröder Alliance and end with a few tentative conclusions on the changing character and significance of tripartite relations between government, business and labour in Germany.

Further information:

This feature is part of a Special Issue of this Journal, entitled 'Germany: Beyond the stable state'.