Today project A03 "Worlds of Labour" presents one of its central results: the functional differentiation of labour law. Historically, eight ideal types of labour regulation have developed worldwide.

A03 Worlds of Labour: Laissez-Faire vs. Universalism

Discovering Functional Differentiation in Labour Law

One of the key results of project A03 "Worlds of Labour" (Mückenberger/Dingeldey) is the elaboration of the functional differentiation of labour law. So far, the historical development of labour law had been assessed in terms of strength of worker protection (or costs for employers), i.e. unidimensional. Our task is to offer a new perspective.

The differentiation into the three functions "standard-setting" (S), "privileging" (P) and "equalising" (E) allows to show the relationship between legal protection of workers and segmentation of labour markets. "S" represents protective labour standards concerning working time and dismissal protection, "P" norms introducing selectivity of protection and seniority rules, and "E" is formed by norms concerning antidiscrimination and equality rights for non-standard employment.

Based on the 36 indicators used for our Worlds of Labour-SPE index, we can show how eight ideal types have evolved historically in labour regulation, depending on the relative strength of each function. These range from the "laissez-faire" ideal type (spe), where each function measured is low, to the "universalist" ideal type "SpE", where the standard-setting and equalizing functions are strong, and the "ordre public social" ideal type (SPE) with strong selectivity as well, as the following figure shows.

The current (2013) set of ideal types based on own coding and CBR-LRI (Cambridge Centre for Business Research – Labour Rights Index) indicators results in the map shown below. It is used for the analysis of global patterns, but also for the historical emergence and differentiation of labour regulation. Here, figures and maps for each function (and indicator) are under construction also in historical terms.

SPE-Typology 2013 – Ideal types and first and second degree relatives (Data sources: CBR-LRI (2017) and own coding)

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For further information, consult A03's working paper (Socium SFB 1342 Working Paper Series No. 5) and its forthcoming publications.

More about the research profile of project A03: Worlds of Labour. Normative Standards of Employment Relationships as National and Global Patterns of Welfare State Development

Have you missed some of the previous windows? Click here for the complete CRC 1342 Advent Calendar 2020.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Irene Dingeldey
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Institute Labour and Economy
Wiener Straße 9 / Ecke Celsiusstraße
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-61710
E-Mail: dingeldey@uni-bremen.de

Dr. Heiner Fechner
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-57070
E-Mail: hfechner@uni-bremen.de

Jenny Hahs
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mückenberger
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Faculty of Law
Universitätsallee, GW1
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-66218
E-Mail: mueckenb@uni-bremen.de

How to abolish child labour internationally

Jenny Hahs and Fabian Besche offer a simulation game for children aged 10 - 12 years on 31.03.2020 from 10 - 12 o'clock and 14 - 16 o'clock in the context of the Children's University 2020 hosted by the University of Bremen. The simulation game focuses on child labour and the right for education.

The children will get an insight into today's forms of child labour, its distribution and its history in interplay and tension with the introduction of compulsory schooling and the right for education. They form teams with other participants and become representatives of their country, advocating for their country's interests in a simulation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference on the abolition of child labour. In this way they also get a first practical insight into how international politics is made.

There are still a few free places and tickets can be booked on the website of the Children's University of Bremen.

Contact:
Fabian Besche
Jenny Hahs

Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz and Jenny Hahs presented three papers at the annual conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, which took place in New York.

Our project A03 was able to give three presentations at the 31st Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), that took place at The New School in New York City:

• Heiner Fechner presented the paper "Worlds of Labour - Protecting and Excluding Components of Employment Regulation in the Course of Globalisation", written jointly with Ulrich Mückenberger.
• Jean-Yves Gerlitz presented the paper "The Evolution of Standard and Non-Standard Employment Relationship Regulation Around the World: A Sequence Analysis of Regulation Patterns over Four Decades", co-authored with Irene Dingeldey.
• Jenny Hahs presented the paper "International Employment Regulation By the ILO: Will the Hidden Legal Segmentation be Overcome By Recent Universal Legislative Trends?" written jointly with Irene Dingeldey.

Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz and Jenny Hahs each received very good feedback on their presentations, as Hahs reports. She was also struck by the "inspiring, albeit certainly not uncontroversial, keynote speech" by Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic (Sciences Po, Paris) - "Prometheus to Dionysus: Can We Re-Enchant the Future?", in which she called on scientists to become more activist by saying: "We cannot only keep reading the world and lament ist state, we have to take an active part in changing too!"

Contact:
Dr. Heiner Fechner
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 7
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-57070
E-Mail: hfechner@uni-bremen.de

Jean-Yves Gerlitz
Jenny Hahs