Neoliberalism by stealth? Labour reforms and institutional discontinuity in worker representation in France
基于对法国七家大型企业160次访谈，分析2017年工人代表改革，提出“制度断裂”概念，揭示改革如何为更具自由化倾向的代表制度开辟道路，并探讨行动者如何影响这一过程。
This article analyses the 2017 reforms to worker representation in France, focusing on the transition and implementation phases. The authors conducted 160 interviews with managers, union and employee representatives in seven large French companies across retail, finance, energy and pharmaceuticals. The article introduces the notion of institutional discontinuity to describe the path taken through the 2017 reforms, where a change to the formal institutional structures is expected to bring about a change in the functioning of representative institutions. The findings contribute to debates on the trajectories of employment relations in France. The authors argue that institutional discontinuity has opened a wider path towards more discretion-enhancing representative institutions, reflecting a clearer neoliberal path in employment relations. Yet, recognising that changing institutional form does not necessarily, nor automatically result in institutions functioning differently, the authors also analyse how actors play a role in shaping the process, whether they try to facilitate the change or to limit its effects.