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Neoliberalism by stealth? Labour reforms and institutional discontinuity in worker representation in France

Author

Listed:
  • Heather Connolly

    (Grenoble École de Management, France)

  • Élodie Béthoux

    (ENS de Lyon, Centre Max Weber, France)

  • Rémi Bourguignon

    (Université Paris-Est Créteil, IRG, France)

  • Arnaud Mias

    (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, IRISSO, France)

  • Paul Tainturier

    (Nantes Université, LEMNA, France)

  • Pauline de Becdelièvre

    (ENS Paris-Saclay, IDHES, France)

Abstract

This article analyses the 2017 reforms to worker representation in France, focusing on the transition and implementation phases. The authors conducted 160 interviews with managers, union and employee representatives in seven large French companies across retail, finance, energy and pharmaceuticals. The article introduces the notion of institutional discontinuity to describe the path taken through the 2017 reforms, where a change to the formal institutional structures is expected to bring about a change in the functioning of representative institutions. The findings contribute to debates on the trajectories of employment relations in France. The authors argue that institutional discontinuity has opened a wider path towards more discretion-enhancing representative institutions, reflecting a clearer neoliberal path in employment relations. Yet, recognising that changing institutional form does not necessarily, nor automatically result in institutions functioning differently, the authors also analyse how actors play a role in shaping the process, whether they try to facilitate the change or to limit its effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Heather Connolly & Élodie Béthoux & Rémi Bourguignon & Arnaud Mias & Paul Tainturier & Pauline de Becdelièvre, 2025. "Neoliberalism by stealth? Labour reforms and institutional discontinuity in worker representation in France," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 46(2), pages 546-567, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:546-567
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X241268171
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glenn Morgan & Marco Hauptmeier, 2021. "The Social Organization of Ideas in Employment Relations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 773-797, May.
    2. Bruno Amable, 2016. "The Political Economy of the Neoliberal Transformation of French Industrial Relations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(3), pages 523-550, May.
    3. Guglielmo Meardi, 2018. "Economic Integration and State Responses: Change in European Industrial Relations since Maastricht," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(3), pages 631-655, September.
    4. Schmitter, Philippe C. & Streeck, Wolfgang, 1999. "The organization of business interests: Studying the associative action of business in advanced industrial societies," MPIfG Discussion Paper 99/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Élodie Béthoux & Arnaud Mias, 2021. "How does State-led decentralization affect workplace employment relations? The French case in a comparative perspective," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(1), pages 5-21, March.
    6. Bjarke Refslund & Jens Arnholtz, 2022. "Power resource theory revisited: The perils and promises for understanding contemporary labour politics," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1958-1979, November.
    7. repec:hal:pseose:hal-01279883 is not listed on IDEAS
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