From Full Employment to Flexibility: Britain and France 1960-1990. CES Working Paper, vol.3, no.3, 1999

Whiteside, Noel. (1999) From Full Employment to Flexibility: Britain and France 1960-1990. CES Working Paper, vol.3, no.3, 1999. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

This paper outlines the differences in the political economies of Britain and France in the years of full employment; which provided the starting point for a reconfiguration of the political agenda as the issue of labour market flexibility emerged. In both countries, the economic experiences of the 1980s stimulated crises in state welfare (3); in each, established political trajectories generated specific frameworks for future political action. Within these changing national political contexts, the meaning and significance of flexibilisation differed considerably and the reception of new employment agendas differed as well. Arguably, neither country had been particularly successful in adapting to recent change because neither has been capable of developing the opportunities it offered. Action frameworks based on national responses are now defunct; we need new strategies based on regional frameworks to align labour market activity and welfare regimes to secure Europe’s future.

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