Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité at Work: Changing French Employment Relations and Management

This book is a study of contemporary changes in French employment relations and management. It includes an overview of the origins of the present employment institutions and practices as well as a critical appreciation of French work sociology, but its main focus is on the evolution of the French political economy of work at the start of the 21st century. Based on a combination of original research and findings from recent studies into French employment relations and the working practice of French firms, it provides both an essential source for comparative purposes and an original approach to understanding change.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Theorising French Employment Relations Social and Political Roots to 1980 Management, Work and the State Before 1980 Values, Class and Politics Since 1981 State Intervention Since 1981 Contemporary Capitalism and Management: Change Amid Continuity Liberté: Employers On the Move Égalité: Trade Unions On the Defensive Changing French Employment Relations and Management

About the Author :
STEVE JEFFERYS is Professor of European Employment Studies and Director of the Working Lives Research Institute at London Metropolitan University. He is the author of several articles on French employment relations and of two other books dealing with international management and work, Management, Work and Welfare in Western Europe and Management and Managed: Fifty Years of Crisis at Chrysler.

Review :
'Professor Jefferys book is particularly interesting on several accounts. First it offers an up to date picture of the most recent developments in French employment relations and management, but also roots them in history. Besides, it provides an unusually perceptive and accurate view of French industrial relations. This is to be particularly commended, for, if many Anglo-Saxon authors have offered excellent works about French society and its developments in general, this has often been less the case for French industrial relations. With remarkable but few exceptions, French peculiarities tend to remain relatively impenetrable across both the Channel and the Atlantic. Finally, from the standpoint of a French observer of the employment relations scene, it is fascinating, and refreshing to discover how we are seen from abroad.' - Jacques Rojot, Professor of Management, University of Paris 'Steve Jefferys has written two books in one. First he has created a solid and detailed analysis of French industrial relations. Then, generalising from the French example, he proposes a theoretical analysis of industrial relations as a whole. The result is highly convincing.' - Christian Dufour, Deputy Director (Research), IRES (Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales), Paris 'This is an excellent study with a comprehensive approach to social and labour relations in France today. This work provides a detailed and up-to-date account of the relationship between past French governments, employers, trade-unions, political parties and social movements. The book will be very useful to political scientists who would like to understand better how specific the French situation is compared to other European countries. This study is not only well documented on those issues, but is also clearly written and accessible. It is particularly knowledgeable and subtle on its assessment of French trade-unionism today. It no doubt fills a gap in the English literature devoted to trade-unions and social relationships in France.' - Dr Philippe Marlière, Senior Lecturer in French and European Politics University College London