Workers, Collectivism and the Law

Grappling with Democracy

Elgar Studies in Law and Society

Laura Carlson, School of Law, Stockholm University, Sweden

Workers, Collectivism and the Law offers a captivating historical account of worker democracy, from its beginnings in European guild systems to present-day labor unions, across the national legal systems of Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Analysing these legal systems in light of a Habermasian concept of participatory democracy, Laura Carlson identifies ways to strengthen individual employee voice in claims against employers.

‘The author assembles a mass of different materials and the outcome is undoubtedly a very valuable tool both for scholarly debate and for the purposes of higher education in that I am sure that it would be beneficial to the students taking a course on comparative industrial relations.’
– Marco Biasi, European Journal of Social Security

‘Professor Laura Carlson, with multi-national legal experience, is an ideal scholar to explore how the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and the US have provided diverse legal structures and mechanisms for individual and collective employee voice in the workplace. The book offers well-researched legal and historical background and insightful analysis and comparison of the countries’ unique approaches.’
– Laura J. Cooper, University of Minnesota Law School, US and Co-Editor, ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law

‘Against a rich historical canvas, Carlson explores procedural democracy involving individual and collective labour claims in Germany, Sweden, the UK and the US. Pointing to the common trends and unique features of these systems, this informative book is a useful contribution to the literature on employee voice.’
– Anne Trebilcock, associated with the Institut für Arbeitsrecht, Georg-August University, Göttingen, German

‘In this important work, Laura Carlson explores the intersections between law, democracy and collective voice from a comparative perspective. It blends historical sensitivity and theoretical sophistication to produce a work of real scholarly importance. Given the rise of nationalism, authoritarianism and growing social and economic inequalities across Europe, its publication could not be more timely. It deserves to be widely read.’
– Alan Bogg, University of Bristol Law School, UK