ABSTRACT
The thrust of the theoretical position advocated here is that variations in industrial relations institutions and practices have their roots in the strategic choices of the parties to the employment relationship. That is to say, employers and managers, workers and their representatives, and officials of the state and various of its agencies are essentially social ‘actors’ who shape the institutional arrangements in which they operate. Of course, this in no way is to posit a one-sidedly ‘voluntarist’ thesis. On the contrary, choices are influenced by broad meanings and patterned and constrained in their formulation, implementation and formation by economic, political and social structures, by organizational and institutional forces and by the distribution of power. But to adopt the concept of social action as the primary point of departure in theoretical modelling ensures that the comparative approach is not weakly formulated in opposition to untenable unidimensional and unilinear interpretations of longterm social evolution. After all, to presuppose that societies with diverse political economies and at varying stages of development are becoming increasingly convergent in industrial relations structure and process is to strain credibility. Ceteris paribus, it is the obverse case which is persuasive. That is to say, unless it can be clearly demonstrated to the contrary, it is to be expected that, as more countries become industrialized and as already complex modes of accommodation of interests amongst the parties are shaped by a progressively diverse range of socio-cultural forms, a rich, heterogeneous and variegated pattern of industrial relations institutions will unfold in future years.
