num_pages: 416
description: As today's headlines make clear, corporate "downsizing" is only one aspect of a global transformation challenging firms and governments alike. W. Rand Smith examines a central question in this what choices exist for governments of industrialized democracies as they seek to help older, core industries adjust to changes in demand, technology, and new sources of competition? This question is especially important for governments dominated by leftist political parties, which are torn between their commitment to social solidarity and the capitalist imperative of efficiency. The Left's Dirty Job compares recent socialist governments in France and Spain, which because of their longevity and initial reform aspirations, provide a key test of whether a distinctive leftist approach to industrial restructuring is possible. This study argues that, in fact, both governments' policies converged with those other European governments in "market-adapting" measures that eliminated thousands of jobs while providing income support for displaced workers. Despite broadly similar policies, however, the restructuring process differed in three important trajectory, dynamics, and impact. Smith traces this pattern of convergence and difference, and focuses on the internal politics of the governing coalitions of Socialist parties and labour union allies, arguing that these respective coalitions decisively affected their government's restructuring strategies. Featuring extensive field work and interviews with over one hundred political, labour, and business leaders, this is the first systematic comparison of these important Socialist governments.
language: English
title: The Left's Dirty Job: The Politics of Industrial Restructuring in France & Spain
titlecomplete: The Left's Dirty Job: The Politics of Industrial Restructuring in France & Spain (Studies in Comparative Political Economy & Public Policy Ser)
publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr