Introduction

Book synopsis: Until recently, the study of industrial relations centred around trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes - often in the manufacturing industry. Union decline and de-industrialization in the advanced capitalist world have raised major issues about the relevance of this focus. As a result, there is growing interest in alternative forms of worker representation, often in conjunction with Human Resource Management. Union decline is by no means universal, however, even in Europe, and there are regions of the world (South East Asia, some African countries and parts of Latin America) where unions are powerful and growing organisations. This set captures the complexity of the field of industrial relations globally, as well as the continuing relevance of competing theoretical approaches to the subject. The selection covers neglected topics such as feminism, debates about post-modernism and the links between labour movements and politics. It combines classical texts with the latest controversies. The set covers: * approaches, industrial relations systems and context * trade unions: goals and forms, decline and growth * employers and multinational corporations * the state * worker representation: collective bargaining and beyond * conflict and cooperation * looking to the future * Selections focusing on the UK, USA, Germany, Eastern Europe, Japan and Africa. There is a detailed index and new introduction to guide the reader through this complex field