Current Institutional Affiliation
Professor, Department of History, Harvard University

Award Information

Abe Fellowship 1995
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Professor, History, Harvard University
Comparative Perspectives on Postwar Systems of Industrial Relations

A comparative analysis of the labor-management accords that emerged in leading capitalist economies after World War II and their contemporary legacy. Research thus far has looked mainly at Japan, seeking to explain the extraordinary durability of the Japanese system of "cooperative" labor-management relations, with attention both to the system's economic logic and its impact on individuals. In the next phase of research, I will broaden and deepen the trans-national and comparative dimensions. Trans-national here refers to the impact of American hegemony and foreign economic policy on labor systems world-wide. Comparative means study of European cases, especially the emergence of co-determination in Germany, a case that appears similar to the Japanese, but also cases that may have differed (Italy, Britain, France). The goal will be to identify key factors that explain the dynamics of change and durability of postwar industrial relations systems.

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