The Left's Dirty Job

The Politics of Industrial Restructuring in France and Spain

• Author(s): W. Rand Smith,
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Pages: 294
• ISBN_10: 0822971895
  ISBN_13: 9780822971894
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations , Business & Economics / Economics / Comparative , Political Science / Political Ideologies / Communism, Post-Communism & Socialism , Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy ,

Description:... The Left's Dirty Job compares the experiences of recent socialist governments in France and Spain, examining how the governments of François Mitterrand (1981–1995) and Felipe González (1982–1996) provide a key test of whether a leftist approach to industrial restructuring is possible. This study argues that, in fact, both governments' policies generally resembled those of other European governments in their emphasis on market-adapting measures that eliminated thousands of jobs while providing income support for displaced workers. Featuring extensive field work and interviews with over one hundred political, labor, and business leaders, this study is the first systematic comparison of these important socialist governments.