Introduction

TL;DR: In this article , a central mechanism in market-oriented restructuring is intensifying competition based on replacing worker voice with employer exit as a means of securing worker cooperation, and labor's power to reassert social values in negotiations or conflicts over restructuring rests on three factors summarized as constraints on employer exit, support for collective worker voice, and strategies of inclusive labor solidarity.

Abstract: Abstract The Introduction presents the book’s argument, describes research methods, and summarizes key findings. The argument has two parts. First, restructuring decisions involve contested choices concerning the social versus the market value of work. A central mechanism in market-oriented restructuring is intensifying competition based on replacing worker voice with employer exit as a means of securing worker cooperation. Second, labor’s power to reassert social values in negotiations or conflicts over restructuring rests on three factors, summarized as constraints on employer exit, support for collective worker voice, and strategies of inclusive labor solidarity. Three case studies from France, Germany, and Sweden illustrate this argument and serve as a jumping-off point for explaining the book’s framework.