ABSTRACT
The institutionally rooted forms of the old labour society seem to be especially stable in Germany and, indeed, were arguably transferred particularly successfully to the former East Germany in the early 1990s. The old institutional forms of codetermination provide a framework for negotiation of radically different issues. Institutionalized codetermination as it was instigated in post-war Germany was part of the tradition of older concepts of economic democracy and could be seen as a pragmatic manifestation of some of their key notions in the specific social constellations of power of the post-war period. The strongest defining features of German industrial relations have been works councils and codetermination, which contrast deeply with the Anglo-Saxon model, and even today these features still seem particularly stable. A 'labour entrepreneur' fluctuates between self-determination and self-exploitation. Simultaneously, the demand for greater self-organization at work has strengthened both demands for participation and the potential that employees bring to such participative processes.
