Author Description

Europe's workforce is subject to a dual convergence process: from the transnational spread of new management practices and from the political force of European union. Trade union rights, hours of work, working practices and training provisions are all being subjected to these twin pressures. Work and Employment in Europe assesses both the convergent and divergent developments taking place at both pan-European and cross-national levels. Comparisons of British and French retailing, German and Italian manufacturing jobs, German and British youth training schemes, and small business strategies of Britain, France and Italy show simultaneous elements of convergence and national specificity. The Nordic Area States and Hungary, both still on the EC's periphery, demonstrate the continuing strength of national institutions and traditions in countries seeking eventual inclusion in the EC. The detailed evidence from these cases provides original evidence, indicating fragmentary convergence and complex interactions between the political, economic and socio-institutional forces of convergence. Work and Employment in Europe provides useful theories and source materials for students and researchers of industrial change, European studies, industrial relations and the sociology of work and employment.