The “Disorganized Paradigm”: British Industrial Relations in the 1990s

Abstract

Analyses change in industrial relations using Lash and Urry′s “disorganized” paradigm. Argues that the transformation from “organized” to “disorganized” capitalism is currently reflected in an analogous shift towards “disorganized” industrial relations, particularly at the organizational level, as evidenced by the proliferation of fragmented HRM practices within many organizations. Uses Flanders′ contribution to demonstrate that the partial breakdown of normative regulation of industrial relations at workplace level during the 1960s (the “challenge from below”) has been largely supplanted by the employer‐imposed “challenge from above”. Consequently, argues that, far from restoring a normative regulatory framework, the employers′ challenge has contributed to the recent disaggregation of industrial relations structures and processes.

Citation

Rose, E. (1994), "The “Disorganized Paradigm”: British Industrial Relations in the 1990s", Employee Relations, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 27-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459410054907