Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
Blunting Neoliberalism

Part of the book series: The International Labour Organization

Abstract

This book examines the impact of tripartism on economic reforms in developing countries1 since the 1990s. Tripartism, also known as social or policy concertation, refers to the consultation and negotiation of public policies between representatives of national governments, trade unions and employer associations, who may also play a direct role in their implementation.2 These practices have a long tradition in Western Europe and have been the subject since the 1970s of large academic literatures on corporatism and social pacts. In recent decades they have spread beyond the classic corporatist countries to others like Ireland, Italy and Spain, with more fragmented structures of interest organization, that were previously thought to be infertile ground for tripartism (Regini 1997; Fajertag & Pochet 1997, 2000; Baccaro 2003; Hassel 2006).

A blind faith in spontaneous progress had taken hold of people’s minds, and with the fanaticism of sectarians the most enlightened pressed forward for boundless and unregulated change in society. The effects on the lives of people were awful beyond description. Indeed, human society would have been annihilated but for the protective counter-moves which blunted the action of this self-destructive mechanism.

Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation 1958, 2001

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Baccaro, L., 2003, ‘What is Alive and What is Dead in the Theory of Corporatism?’ British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 41, no. 4, 683–706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baccaro, L. and M. Simoni, 2006, ‘Policy Concertation in Europe: Explaining Government Choice’, International Institute for Labor Studies, ILO, Decent Work Research Programme, discussion paper 168 (2006). Available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/dp16806.pdf.

  • Baccaro, L. and M. Simoni, 2007, Organizational Determinants of Wage Moderation, unpublished manuscript, MIT Sloan School of Management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardhan, P., S. Bowles and M. Wallerstein, 2006, Globalization and Egalitarian Redistribution, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bensusán, G., 2000, El Modelo Mexicano de Regulaci??aboral, Mexico: FLACSO/ Plaza y Valdés.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwati, J., 2004, In Defense of Globalization, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birdsall, N., A. de la Torre and R. Meneses, 2008, Fair Growth: Economic Policies for Latin America’s Poor and Middle-Income Majority, Baltimore: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhorat, H., P. Lundall and S. Rospabe, ‘The South African Labour Market in a Globalizing World: Economic and Legislative Considerations’, Geneva, ILO employment paper 2002/32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, F. D. and L. M. Kahn, 1996, ‘International Differences in Wage Male Inequality: Institutions Versus Market Forces’, The Journal of Political Economy, vol. 104, no. 4, 791–837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bresser-Pereira, L. C., J. M. Maravall and A. Przeworski, 1993, Economic Reforms in New Democracies: A Social-Democratic Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, K., 1999, ‘Loyalty Dilemmas and Market Reform: Party-Union Alliances under Strain in Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela’, World Politics, vol. 52, no. 1, 105–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burki, S. J. and G. Perry, 1998, Beyond the Washington Consensus: Institutions Matter, Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Calmfors, L. and J. Driffill, 1988, ‘Bargaining Structure, Corporatism and Macroeconomic Performance’, Economic Policy, vol. 3, no. 6, 14–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, D. R., 1984, ‘Social Democracy, Corporatism, Labor Quiescence and the Representation of Economic Interest in Advanced Capitalist Society’, in J. H. Goldthorpe (ed.), Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism (Oxford: Clarendon).

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D., 2001, ‘Social Dialogue and Labour Market Adjustment in East Asia after the Crisis’, in G. Betcherman and R. Islam (eds), East Asian Labour Markets and the Economic Crisis: Impacts, Responses and Lessons, WA: World Bank/Geneva: ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casale, G. (ed.), Social Dialogue in Central and Eastern Europe, Budapest: ILO-CEET.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checchi, D. and C. Garcia-Penalosa, 2008, ‘Labor Market Institutions and Income Inequality’, Economic Policy, vol. 23, no. 56, 601–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compston, H., 1997, ‘Union Power, Policy Making, and Unemployment in Western Europe, 1972–1993’, Comparative Political Studies, vol. 30, no. 6, 732–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G., 1990, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajertag, G. and P. Pochet (eds), 1997, Social Pacts in Europe, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajertag, G. and P. Pochet (eds), 2000, Social Pacts in Europe — New Dynamics, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fashoyin, T., 1998, ‘Industrial Relations in Southern Africa: The Challenge of Change’, research paper no. 5, Harare, ILO/Southern Africa Multidisciplinary Advisory Team. Available at: http://www.oit.org/public/english/region/afpro/harare/download/discussionpapers/pps5.doc.

  • Fashoyin, T., 2004, ‘Tripartite Cooperation, Social Dialogue and National Development’, International Labour Review, vol. 143, no. 4, 341–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, A. M., E. Morgado and M. Rueda, 2007, Diálogo social institucionalizado en América Latina: Estudio comparado de Argentina, Brasil, Ecuador, México y Perú (Lima: OIT). Available at: http://www.oit.org.pe/WDMS/bib/publ/doctrab/dt_207.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, G., 1998, Partisan Politics in the Global Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, J. (ed.), 2005, The New Conditionality: The Politics of Poverty Reduction Strategies, London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib, A. and V. Padayachee, 2000, ‘Economic Policy and Power Relations in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy’, World Development, vol. 28, no. 2, 245–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haggard, S. and R. Kaufman (eds), 1992, The Politics of Economic Adjustment: International Constraints, Distributive Conflicts, and the State, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haggard, S. and S. B. Webb, 1994, Voting for Reform: Democracy, Political Liberalization and Economic Adjustment, Oxford: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. and R. J. Franzese, 1998, ‘Mixed Signals: CBI, Coordinated Wage Bargaining and European Monetary Union’, International Organization, vol. 52, no. 3, 505–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassel, A., 2006, Wage Setting, Social Pacts and the Euro: A New Role for the State, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, A., 2005, Season of Hope: Economic Reform under Mandela and Mbeki, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press/IDRC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iversen, T., 1999, Contested Economic Institutions: The Politics of Macroeconomics and Wage Bargaining in Advanced Democracies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, G. and R. Khadka, 1998, ‘Tax Reform in Singapore’, Harvard Institute for International Development, discussion paper no. 644.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jomo K. S., 2005, ‘Economic Reform for Whom? Beyond the Washington Consensus’, Post-Autistic Economics Review, no. 35, 11–18, December. Available at: http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue35/Jomo35.htm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenworthy, L., 2000, ‘Quantitative Indicators of Corporatism: A Survey and Assessment’, Max Planck Institut f?sellschaftsforschung, discussion paper 00/4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon, G. and J. Knight, 2005, Unemployment in South Africa, 1995–2003: Causes, Problems and Policies, Economic and Social Research Council, Global Poverty Research Group, GPRG-WPS-010, January. Available at: http://www.gprg.org/pubs/workingpapers/pdfs/gprg-wps-010.pdf.

  • Kohl, H. and H. W. Platzer (eds), 2004, Industrial Relations in Central and Eastern Europe: Transformation and Integration, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korpi, W., 1983, The Democratic Class Struggle, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, A., 2004, ‘Meant Well, Tried Little, Failed Much: Policy Reforms in Emerging Market Economies’, lecture given at the Economics Honor Society, New York University, March 23, 2004. Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2004/032304a.htm.

  • Kuczynski, P. and J. Williamson (eds), 2003, After the Washington Consensus: Restarting Growth and Reform in Latin America, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, S. and J. Ishikawa, 2005,’ social Dialogue Indicators: Trade Union Membership and Collective Bargaining Coverage’, ILO, Policy Integration Department, working paper no. 59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmbruch, G., 1984, ‘Concertation and the Structure of Corporatist Networks’, in John H. Goldthorpe (ed.), Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, C. Y. and R. Chew, 1998, Wages and Wages Policies: Tripartism in Singapore, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, D. and J. Sachs, 1990, ‘Creating a Market Economy in Eastern Europe: The Case of Poland’, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, vol. 1, 75–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lund, F., 2007, Changing Social Policy: The Child Support Grant in South Africa, Cape Town: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mares, I., 2006, Taxation, Wage Bargaining, and Unemployment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Milanovic, B., 2005, Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moene K. O. and M. Wallerstein, 2003, ‘Earnings Inequality and Welfare Spending’, World Politics, vol. 55, no. 4, 485–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, J. (ed.), 1989, Fragile Coalitions: The Politics of Economic Adjustment, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ocampo, J. A., 2005, ‘Beyond the Washington Consensus: What Do We Mean?’, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 27, no. 2, 293–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD, 2000, Pushing Ahead with Reform in Korea: Labor Market and Social Safety-Net Policies, Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M., 1982, The Rise and Decline of Nations, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ost, D., 2000, ‘Illusory Corporatism in Eastern Europe: Neoliberal Tripartism and Postcommunist Class identities’, Politics & Society, vol. 28, no. 4, 503–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekkarinen, J., M. Pohjola and B. Rowthorn (eds), 1992, Social Corporatism: A Superior Economic System? Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pizzorno, A., 1978, ‘Political Echange and Collective Identity in Industrial Conflict’, in C. Crouch and A. Pizzorno (eds), The Resurgence of Class Conflict in Western Europe since 1968, London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, K., 1958, The Great Transformation, Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pontusson, J., 2005, Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regini, M., 1997, ‘Still Engaging in Corporatism? Recent Italian Experience in Comparative Perspective’, European Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 3, no. 3, 259–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, M., 1998, ‘Globalization, Labour Markets and Welfare States: A Future of ‘Competitive Corporatism’?’, in M. Rhodes and Y. Mény (eds), The Future of European Welfare: A New Social Contract? London: Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, M., 2001, ‘The Political Economy of Social Pacts: “Competitive Corporatism” and European Welfare Reform’, in P. Pierson (ed.), The New Politics of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D., 1998, ‘Where Did all the Growth Go? External Shocks, Social Conflict and Growth Collapses’, CEPR discussion paper no. 1789.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D., 2006, ‘Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank’s Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform’, Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 44, no. 4, 973–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D., 2007, ‘How to Save Globalization from its Cheerleaders’, Harvard University, Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) discussion paper no, DP6494, September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rueda, D. and J. Pontusson, 2000, ‘Wage Inequality and Varieties of Capitalism’, World Politics, vol. 52, no. 3, 350–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-i-Martin, X., 2006, ‘The World Distribution of Income: Falling Poverty and… Convergence, Period’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. CXXI, issue 2, 351–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schamis, H., 2002, Re-Forming the State: The Politics of Privatization in Latin America and Europe, Ann Arbor: Michigan University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharpf, F., 1991, Crisis and Choice in European Social Democracy, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitter, P., 1982, ‘Reflections on Where the Theory of Neo-Corporatism Has Gone and Where the Praxis of Neo-Corporatism May be Going’, in G. Lehmbruch and P. C. Schmmitter, Patterns of Corporatist Policy-Making London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seekings, J. and N. Nattrass, 2002, ‘Class, Distribution and Redistribution in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, Transformation, no. 50, 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soskice, D., 1990, ‘Wage Determination: The Changing Role of Institutions in Advanced Industrialized Countries’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, vol. 6, no. 4, 36–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soskice, D. and T. Iversen, 2000, ‘The Nonneutrality of Monetary Policy with Large Price or Wage Setters’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no. 1, 265–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G., J. Sender and J. Weeks, 1996, Restructuring the Labour Market: The South African Challenge, Geneva: ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J., 2002, Globalization and its Discontents, NY: W W Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J., 2004, ‘The Post-Washington Consensus Consensus’, working paper, The Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University. Available at: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/ipd/pub/Stiglitz_PWCC_Englishl.pdf.

  • Traxler, F., S. B. Laschke and B. Kittel, 2001, National Labor Relations in Internationalized Markets, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Trebilcock, A., 1996, ‘Structural Adjustment and Tripartite Consultation’, International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 9, no. 1, 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Zyl, A. and C. van der Westhuizen, 2003, ‘Deep Cuts? Social Spending under GEAR’, Development Policy Research Unit, School of Economics, University of Cape Town, TIPS Conference, July. Available at: http://www.tips.org.za/files/720.pdf.

  • Visser, J., 2003, ‘Unions and Unionism around the World’, in John T. Addison and Claus Schnabel (eds), International Handbook of Trade Unions, Cheltenham Glos: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein, M., 1999, ‘Wage Setting Institutions and Pay Inequality in Advanced Industrial Societies’, American Journal of Political Science, vol. 43, no. 3, 649–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, J., 2004, ‘A Short History of the Washington Consensus’, paper prepared for the Barcelona conference From the Washington Consensus toward a new Global Governance, September 24–5, 2004. Available at: http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/williamson0904-2.pdf.

  • World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, 2004, A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, Geneva: ILO.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Lydia Fraile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lucio Baccaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Institute for Labour Studies of the ILO, Switzerland

    Lydia Fraile (research associate) (research associate)

Copyright information

© 2010 International Labour Organization

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fraile, L., Baccaro, L. (2010). Introduction. In: Fraile, L. (eds) Blunting Neoliberalism. The International Labour Organization. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230274327_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation