Description
Book SynopsisThe collapse of Britain's powerful labor movement has been one of the most significant and astonishing stories in political history. In analyzing how an entirely new industrial relations system was constructed after 1979, this work offers a revisionist history of British trade unionism in the twentieth century.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2005 Labor History Book Prize, Labor History Journal "Howell writes directly and clearly. He integrates into his study the concepts of many authors and his research is current... Howell has created a work of merit and it deserves the attention and respect of students of the British industrial relations."--James W. Stitt, EH.net "Howell's work ... well repays a careful reading. In less than 200 pages of text, he reinterprets British history, and points toward a new approach to understanding some of the central questions of our time. I recommend Trade Unions and the State without reservation."--Gerald Friedman, Industrial and Labor Relations Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix CHAPTER ONE: Introduction: The Puzzle of British Industrial Relations 1 CHAPTER TWO: Constructing Industrial Relations Institutions 20 CHAPTER THREE: The Construction of the Collective Laissez-Faire System, 1890-1940 46 CHAPTER FOUR: Donovan, Dissension, and the Decentralization of Industrial Relations, 1940-1979 86 CHAPTER FIVE: The Decollectivization of Industrial Relations, 1979-1997 131 CHAPTER SIX: The Third Way and Beyond: The Future of British Industrial Relations 174 Notes 195 References 221 Index 237
