Overview

Since the onset of the Great Recession, Germany's economy has been praised for its superior performance, which has been reminiscent of the ""economic miracle"" of the 1950s and 1960s. Such acclaim is surprising because Germany's economic institutions were widely dismissed as faulty just a decade ago. In Holding the Shop Together, Stephen J. Silvia examines the oscillations of the German economy across the entire postwar period through one of its most important components: the industrial relations system. As Silvia shows in this wide-ranging and deeply informed account, the industrial relations system is strongest where the German economy is strongest and is responsible for many of the distinctive features of postwar German capitalism. It extends into the boardrooms, workplaces and government to a degree that is unimaginable in most other countries. Trends in German industrial relations, moreover, influence developments in the broader German economy and, frequently, industrial relations practice abroad. All these aspects make the German industrial relations regime an ideal focal point for developing a deeper understanding of the German economy as a whole. Silvia begins by presenting the framework of the German industrial relations system-labor laws and the role of the state-and then analyzes its principal actors: trade unions and employers' associations. He finds the framework sound but the actors in crisis because of membership losses. Silvia analyzes the reasons behind the losses and the innovative strategies German labor and management have developed in their efforts to reverse them. He concludes with a comprehensive picture and then considers the future of German industrial relations.

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9780801452215

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<p> Holding the Shop Together represents scholarship at its best; Stephen J. Silvia's immense erudition is visible and palpable in every sentence and every thought. This is far and away the best book on German trade unions and industrial relations bar none, in any language. Silvia tells a complex story and concludes that the fate of unions is decided by the political culture in which they operate. Andrei Markovits, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies, University of Michigan, author of Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America

In this wide-ranging, thoroughly researched study of industrial relations in Germany, Silvia (School of International Service, American Univ.) examines the evolution of trade unions, employers' associations, and collective bargaining in various economic sectors since the end of WW II, as well as the development of codeterminations, i.e. the role of work councils and of employee representatives on supervisory boards... This volume will be a value to economists as well as political scientists inderested in collective bargaining and the postwar German economy. -H.D. Renning, Choice (April 2014) Holding the Shop Together represents scholarship at its best; Stephen J. Silvia's immense erudition is visible and palpable in every sentence and every thought. This is far and away the best book on German trade unions and industrial relations bar none, in any language. Silvia tells a complex story and concludes that the fate of unions is decided by the political culture in which they operate. -Andrei Markovits, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies, University of Michigan, author of Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America Insiders have known for years that Stephen J. Silvia tracks the progress of the German industrial relations system more fairly and extensively than any other English-language labor expert. This new book marks the culmination of a stalwart career and constitutes the most up-to-date survey of the state of German labor-management relations currently available anywhere. Holding the Shop Together will be valuable both to those uninitiated in the German system as well as to old Germany hands and other experts in comparative political economy. The central, highly original argument that the changes to the system in the last several decades have been so extensive that they effectively constitute a second postwar German labor system will both illuminate and provoke debate. -Gary Herrigel, University of Chicago Stephen J. Silvia has a marvelous grasp of what makes the German system of industrial relations tick, along with the ongoing capacity of its actors to 'hold the shop together.' His book provides valuable insights for readers both in Germany and abroad. It is high time for this publication. -Michael Fichter, Freie Universitaet Berlin

Author Information

Stephen J. Silvia is Associate Professor in the School of International Service and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at American University.

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