What would the neoliberalization of Nordic industrial relations look like?

Abstract

This article addresses a set of broadly theoretical issues concerning how neoliberalization should be conceptualized in Nordic industrial relations. The first issue is the appropriate metrics of neoliberalization in industrial relations in the Nordics. The article argues that neoliberalization should be thought of as having both universal elements and regime or country-specific ones. Then the article examines the relationship between industrial relations institutions and capitalist growth models. It argues that neoliberalization can be understood as a mode of regulation of post-Fordist growth models, specifically here the role of industrial relations institutions in the regulation of contemporary Nordic growth models. Finally, the article examines the role of the state in the neoliberalization of industrial relations in the Nordics, arguing that neoliberalization in the Nordics often operates through the state and involves substantial political regulation of industrial relations.