Publisher Description

West Germany from 1949 to 1990 was a story of virtually unparalleled political and economic success. This economic miracle incorporated a well-functioning political democracy, expanded to include a "social partnership" system of economic representation. Then the Wall came down. Economic crisis in the East-industrial collapse, massive layoffs, a demoralized workforce-triggered gloomy predictions. Was this the beginning of the end for the widely admired "German model"? Lowell Turner has extensively researched the German transformation in the 1990s. Indeed, in 1993 he was at the factory gates at Siemens in Rostock for the first major strike in post-Cold War eastern Germany. In that strike, and in a series of other incisively analyzed workplace and job developments in eastern Germany, he shows the remarkable resilience and flexibility of the German social partnership and the contribution of its institutions to unification. His controversial and, to some, radical findings will stimulate debate at home and abroad.

Author Biography

Lowell Turner is Professor of International and Comparative Labor at the ILR School and Director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University. He is coeditor most recently of Mobilizing against Inequality, Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds, and Rekindling the Movement, all from Cornell.

Review

"A charmingly readable page-turner about labor relations in the former East Germany... Turner's study is one of the best labor history books this reviewer has read in recent years... Recommended for anyone with an interest in German studies and for students of contemporary history and social sciences."-Choice "A seasoned observer of Germany's contemporary industrial scene, Lowell Turner's vivid and up-beat book rightly emphasizes a remarkable achievement which has failed to win the international recognition it deserves."-Financial Times "An innovative, detailed analysis... A very stimulating (and optimistic) account... This book should become required reading for all students interested in the political economy of Germany."-Comparative Labor law and Policy Journal "Highly readable."-Canadian Journal of Political Science "Provides an argument that industrial relations in eastern Germany has demonstrated remarkable resilience and flexibility and has sustained the transferred German model of social partnership. Turner uses the concept of social partnership in terms of the relationship between labour and management, and specifically the collective bargaining relationship between organised employers and trade unions within the German co-determination framework."-Karl Koch. German Politics. December, 1999. "Lowell Turner enjoyed unparalleled access to employer associations, trade unions, and individual firms in the new Lander after 1990. Out of this unique data base he weaves a nuanced account of the economic and political challenges confronting these actors at a time of extreme upheaval and uncertainty."-Jeffrey Anderson, Brown University "Very well written and highly readable, Fighting for Partnership is the first book-length attempt to analyze the role of industrial relations in the unification of Germany and to account for the impact of unification on the German industrial relations system. It also updates the state of the knowledge on German industrial relations as a whole, including West Germany, in the 1990s. This book will be must-reading for students of German politics and industrial relations."-Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Long Description

West Germany from 1949 to 1990 was a story of virtually unparalleled political and economic success. This economic miracle incorporated a well-functioning political democracy, expanded to include a "social partnership" system of economic representation. Then the Wall came down. Economic crisis in the East--industrial collapse, massive layoffs, a demoralized workforce--triggered gloomy predictions. Was this the beginning of the end for the widely admired "German model"? Lowell Turner has extensively researched the German transformation in the 1990s. Indeed, in 1993 he was at the factory gates at Siemens in Rostock for the first major strike in post-Cold War eastern Germany. In that strike, and in a series of other incisively analyzed workplace and job developments in eastern Germany, he shows the remarkable resilience and flexibility of the German social partnership and the contribution of its institutions to unification. His controversial and, to some, radical findings will stimulate debate at home and abroad.

Review Quote

"Very well written and highly readable, Fighting for Partnership is the first book-length attempt to analyze the role of industrial relations in the unification of Germany and to account for the impact of unification on the German industrial relations system. It also updates the state of the knowledge on German industrial relations as a whole, including West Germany, in the 1990s. This book will be must-reading for students of German politics and industrial relations."-Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Details