Labor Law Reform and Organized Labor: A Comparative Historical Sociology of Unanticipated Outcomes

Abstract

This article provides a comparative historical examination of the unanticipated consequences of labor law reforms in capitalist democracies during the twentieth century. The study of unexpected effects has a long history in sociology, and the cases analyzed here prove particularly instructive. Primary attention is given to earlier labor law projects in Germany and France that targeted the role of organized labor within industrial relations. Though divergent in political aims, legal reforms in the two countries converged in that the outcomes proved contrary to state intentions. Specifically, whereas postwar German conservatives had hoped to weaken labor unions with the Works Constitution Act of 1952 and French socialists aimed to strengthen organized labor by implementing the Auroux Laws during the 1980s, the legislative initiatives in the two nations ultimately had unexpected impacts. Analysis of what caused these unanticipated effects points toward two common factors: strategic actions (or inactions) by relevant social agents and the indeterminate nature of legal discourse itself. This article concludes with a consideration of the possibilities for labor law reform in the United States.