ABSTRACT
Austria is often cited as a corporatist success story. During the 1970s, when many countries were suffering the side effects of economic crisis, in Austria inflation was contained, unemployment remained low and economic growth continued. At a political level, the corporatist policy making arrangements have been accepted as legitimate and have remained largely unchallenged (Katzenstein, 1984). The labour movement has played a significant role in the creation and resulting outcomes of this corporatist framework. Analysing how this framework has had an impact on the representation of women's interests as workers is the purpose of this chapter. In particular, I examine how the historical precursors to corporatism, and the corporatist context itself, has contributed to the formulation and articulation of women's interests by women trade unionists and the strategies that have been harnessed to further these interests. In doing so, I identify a tendency toward gender-specific solidarities, albeit in a way that has not disrupted the consensus-oriented politics of Austria. Yet, what appears to be a rather moderate approach taken by women trade unionists has begun to create tensions over the entrenched norms of women's labour force participation in Austria.
