Industrial Relations and European State Traditions


Book Description

In some western European countries trade unions and employers' organizations share responsibility with government for maintaining order and efficiency in the labour market as a matter of course. in others such a role is seen as an unacceptable interference with either the free market or the prerogatives of the state, or both. How can we explain these differences? How enduring are they? Do they matter? In the 1970s there seemed to be a growing popularity for the first approach, leading to the explosion of interest in neo-corporatism; did all that evaporate during the ostensibly neo-liberal 1980s? Colin Crouch tries to answer these questions with reference to fifteen western European nations. Using a combination of rational choice theory and historical analysis he traces the development of industrial relations systems in these countries from the 1870s to the present. He ends by seeking explanations for differences further back in time, showing that longer-term historical explanations of contemporary institutions are more necessary than most exercises in policy analysis prefer to accept. 'an outstanding example of the fusion of theoretical economic analysis with historical perspective. Recommended at all levels' Choice 'It is difficult to do justice to this oustanding book in a short review or at a single reading. Colin Crouch's ambitious comparative survey of states and industrial relations provides both an abstract framework for comparative study . . . and a framework for comparing the level and form of corporatism in industrial relations.' Political Studies




The Great Powers and Global Struggle, 1490-1990


Book Description

In The Great Powers and Global Struggle, Karen A. Rasler and William R. Thompson focus on two themes: the rise and fall as well as the relative decline of major world powers over the past five hundred years, and the way in which these processes have set the stage for the outbreak of global war. Their interdisciplinary approach encompasses political science, economics, sociology, geography, and history. The most significant wars occur when regional leaders—historically in Western Europe—challenge global leaders. By studying the wars of Napoleon, Louis XIV, Phillip II and the Italian/Indian Ocean wars of the sixteenth century through World Wars I and II to the present, the authors challenge the long-held idea that prosperity leads to over-consumption and underinvestment and thus decline—a theory, traceable to ancient times, that remains the principal explanation for global decline today. Arguments about global structural change and its implications abound, but rarely is the abstract translated into concrete historical terms with emphases on specific actors and empirical documentation. Rasler and Thompson reinterpret the past five hundred years of major-power warfare and provide extensive tests of the eighteen generalizations critical to their argument. They conclude that those who argue that global war and repositioning are no longer a concern among the major powers lack critical understanding of the behavior that contributes to such conflict.




Bibliography of European Economic and Social History


Book Description

This bibliographical guide contains 10,000 references to the economic and social history of 30 European countries during the period 1700-1939. More than 3000 periodicals have been consulted to obtain references, as well as books, edited collections and conference proceedings. The information is listed in categories such as industry, agriculture, finance, migration, labour conditions, urban communities and organizations. Full publication details are included, so that references may be located easily.




The European Population, 1850-1945


Book Description

The European Population, 1850-1945 is the first volume of two on demographics. The second volume will appear as part of the Societies of Europe series in 2003 and will cover changes until the year 2000. The European Population, 1850-1945 is a comparative and historical data handbook and accompanying CD-ROM presenting series data on demographic developments, population and household structures for the countries of Western and Central Europe. All major fields of demographic change are covered: fertility, mortality, marriage, and divorce. Population figures are given for each population census by sex, civil status and age. Major demographic developments within the family are described providing a commentary on the main population structures and trends in Europe since the 19th century.




The Cold War and After


Book Description

The Cold War and After presents a collection of well-reasoned arguments selected fromthe journal International Security on the causes of the Cold War and the effect of its aftermath onthe peaceful coexistence of European states. This new edition includes all of the material from thefirst edition, plus four new articles: The Unipolar Illusion: Why New Great Powers Will Rise,Christopher Layne; International Primacy: Is the Game Worth the Candle? Robert Jervis; WhyInternational Primacy Matters, Samuel P. Huntington; and International Relations Theory and the Endof the Cold War, John Lewis Gaddis.Sean M. Lynn-Jones is Managing Editor of International Security.Steven E. Miller is Director of Studies at the Center for Science and International Affairs, HarvardUniversity.




Cohabitation in Europe


Book Description

Originating from discussions about the reasons for, and regional variations behind, the remarkable rise in cohabitation that started in the 1970s – a rise that continues to this day – this book explores the main stimuli behind cohabitation. The variation in levels of cohabitation cannot be explained solely by regional differences, religious affiliation, nationality, levels of education, or by the varying rate in which contraceptive measures spread across Europe. The book also focuses on the ways in which cohabitants are legitimized or rejected by certain communities. Did communities develop specific terms to define cohabitation and because of which underlying reasons were these different terms created? Illegitimacy is another phenomenon inseparably tied to cohabitation, based on the hypothesis that the understanding of marriage differs between societies and regions. In 1971, Shorter, Knodel and Van de Walle found that children born in rural Slavic communities in unlawful but stable, consensual unions were not recognised by civil law and the Church, and were registered as illegitimates, but in a cultural perspective were considered as legitimate. They also found more or less the same pattern in Scandinavian countries. This book explores the correlations that exist between illegitimacy and cohabitation across space and time in Europe? This book was originally published as a special issue of The History of the Family.




Creative Ways to apply Historical GIS


Book Description

This volume promotes the use of Historical GIS (H-GIS) for both education and research. It consists of a coherent set of chapters that allow readers to study the spatial histories of cities, infrastructure, landscapes, and more across Europe. Each chapter is accompanied by Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM) including GIS data, guides and complementary material in .pdf format, and more. To date, there are no similar materials available in this field compiled in a single book. Interdisciplinarity in spatial research is a main theme of this volume, and the text and tools provided here allow readers to combine inputs relating to the study of earth sciences, population, urban growth and transportation, focusing on changes over both space and time. Each chapter provides data in GIS format and also a user's guide to enable readers to deeply engage with the contents themselves. Guidelines are provided to help locate new data about other areas of the world, which users will be able to develop independently. The book is divided into three parts, each presenting different scales of study and analysis at the local, regional and national levels. Part One deals with general subjects analyzed across large areas, mainly within Europe. Part Two provides more specific subjects and data. Part Three covers sources and teaching with H-GIS. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, teachers and students from secondary schools up to university level. Each subject and tutorial is aimed at a multi-level audience.




Critical Comparisons in Politics and Culture


Book Description

Debating the problem of comparison in politics and culture, this work takes up a variety of topics from nationalist violence and labour strikes to ritual forms and religious practices. The contributors criticise conventional forms of comparative method, and introduce new comparative strategies.




Liberalism, Fascism, or Social Democracy


Book Description

This work provides a sweeping historical analysis of the political development of Western Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Arguing that the evolution of most Western European nations into liberal democracies, social democracies, or fascist regimes was attributable to a discrete set of social class alliances, the author explores the origins and outcomes of the political development in the individual nations. In Britain, France, and Switzerland, countries with a unified middle class, liberal forces established political hegemony before World War I. By coopting considerable sections of the working class with reforms that weakened union movements, liberals essentially excluded the fragmented working class from the political process, remaining in power throughout the inter-war period. In countries with a strong, cohesive working class and a fractured middle class, Luebbert points out, a liberal solution was impossible. In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Czechoslovakia, political coalitions of social democrats and the "family peasantry" emerged as a result of the First World War, leading to social democratic governments. In Italy, Spain, and Germany, on the other hand, the urban middle class united with a peasantry hostile to socialism to facilitate the rise of fascism.