The Industrial Relations Field in Germany: An Empirical and Comparative Analysis

Studying work in theory and practice: insights for a globalising academia from the IR trajectory in Italy

“…In recognising IR peculiarities across nations, Hyman is able to reconcile differences, stimulating further reflections on the contextual nature of IR theory. Although most attention is paid to IR in the UK and in the USA, the two countries most central to the field, there are analyses of IR in Canada (Murray and Giles, 1988;Godard, 1992) and Australia (Dabscheck, 1994), while only a few scholars tackle the issue outside the Anglo-Saxon countries, and very rarely to an Englishspeaking audience, notable exceptions being Germany (Keller, 2005) and Japan (Suzuki, 2011). She looks at IR developments in the USA, the UK and Germany and, through a bibliometric analysis of three journals, concludes that different 'research styles' persist and follow the heterogeneous intellectual roots present in Anglo-Saxon and Continental Europe.…”

“…Then he details the evolution of IR around the world, in an encyclopaedic work particularly valuable for the historical description of key authors and institutions. Although most attention is paid to IR in the UK and in the USA, the two countries most central to the field, there are analyses of IR in Canada (Murray and Giles, 1988;Godard, 1992) and Australia (Dabscheck, 1994), while only a few scholars tackle the issue outside the Anglo-Saxon countries, and very rarely to an Englishspeaking audience, notable exceptions being Germany (Keller, 2005) and Japan (Suzuki, 2011).…”

Paradigms in Industrial Relations: Original, Modern and Versions In‐between

“…The IR field in some countries (e.g. Britain) has handled this challenge better than in others, but in the 1980s and 1990s, IR in nearly all countries felt substantial downward pressure (da Costa 2005; Kaufman 2004a; Keller 2005; Lee and Lee 2005). The reverse side of this proposition is that the best prospect for revitalizing the IR field is to move back to a contemporary version of the original broad paradigm that includes unions but also gives equal emphasis to other solutions of labour problems.…”

Does Industrial Relations Research Support Policy?

“…In the case of publications on German IR, it is notable that contributions by sociologists remain important and that publications by authors from non-university institutions are significant (table 3, NA column). Regarding the former, this may be explained by the traditionally significant contributions of industrial sociologists to the study of work and employment (Keller, 2005). The latter confirms that, in Germany, scientific research is supported not only by the network of universities, but also by scientific state-institutions such as the Max-Planck Institute, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Institute für Arbeitsmarkt und Berufsforschung (IAB).…”

“…As Frege (2007: 4) puts it, "Employment research needs to re-establish a policy oriented research tradition which is not just a scientific exercise for its own good but reassuring of its continuing relevance for society." Additionally, it is less clear how such rejuvenation of IR research can take place as it is argued that research is embedded in distinct national research traditions and IR systems and their actors continue to show considerable distinctiveness when it comes to international comparison (Keller, 2005;Frege, 2007). This is despite the growing internationalization of academia and the increasing globalization of IR practices throughout the advanced industrialized world.…”