Stefan Beck – författare

society, and state (Streeck, 1999; Simonis, 1998). Interspersed between these most commonly named elements are the following: First, the high political integrating force of the German Model after WWII was based on the adoption and transformation of corporatist political structures from National Socialist Germany. Liberal capitalism was (re)introduced under political competition between Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, who eventually found common ground in the politically mediated compromise between capital and labor: “This compromise was negotiated and institutionalized at a time when the communist wing of the workers movement and the authoritarian voices of German capital – for various reasons – were excluded from political participation” (Streeck, 1999, p. 15; translation: SB). The partnership between firms and unions manifested itself in manifold institutional structures. Apart from the social partners’ autonomy in matters of wage policy, worker codetermination at plant level and in operations is regarded as one of the special achievements of the German Model and has contributed substantially to social peace. The political coordination forms of concerted action, round tables, as well as modernization and crisis cartels gave birth to a highly complex political decision-making structure which, based on a federalist setup, has rightly been called “negotiation state” (Esser, 1998, p. 123). Second, the material foundation of this “Social Democratic class compromise” (Buci-Glucksmann & Therborn, 1981) consisted in the Federal Republic’s – in the words of Göste Esping-Andersen – “conservative-liberal” form of welfare state.

The German economic and social system was once admired for its capacity to foster international competitiveness as well as social integration. In the literature on varieties of capitalisms it was even called the Modell Deutschland. But in the last years, plagued by mass unemployment and lagging behind in terms of economic growth, many commentators portrayed it as institutionally incrusted and hopelessly outmoded. However, the basic institutions underpinning the German model are currently undergoing significant changes. The Red--Green reforms of the labor market and the pension scheme, recent incidents like the take-over of German Mannesmann by Vodafone Airtouch, for example, or the evasion of collective bargaining agreements can be interpreted as significant attacks on the corporatist structure of the model. Thus, does the future imply a (more) liberal, market-style economy also in Germany? And if so, will this transformation solve the problem of mass unemployment? Surviving Globalization? explores the future of the German economy within the institutional and societal framework of Modell Deutschland.The contributing authors scrutinize important economic trends, institutional changes and governmental reforms, ranging from corporate governance and industrial relations to macroeconomic policies, and from the welfare state to European integration. They assess the theoretical perspectives informing the current reforms and raise questions about the feasibility of institutional transfer. Thus, Surviving Globalization? provides a comprehensive and empirically profound introduction to the distinctive features of the German economic model in the light of globalization, European integration, and German unification. In contrast to common notions about the German economy, it identifies not institutional rigidities but the macroeconomic exhaustion of Germany's long standing mercantilism, its constant attempt to achieve current account surpluses, and the specific way of integrating East-Germany as major causes for its job crisis.