Labour constitutions and occupational communities: social norms and legal norms at work

Dukes, R. and Streeck, W. (2020) Labour constitutions and occupational communities: social norms and legal norms at work. Journal of Law and Society, 47(4), pp. 612-638. (doi: 10.1111/jols.12254)

Abstract

This paper considers the interaction of legal norms and social norms in the regulation of work and working relations, observing that, with the contraction of collective bargaining, this is a matter that no longer attracts the attention that it deserves. Drawing upon two concepts from sociology – Max Weber's ‘labour constitution’ and Seymour Martin Lipset's ‘occupational community’ – it focuses on possibilities for the emergence, within groups of workers, of shared normative beliefs concerning ‘industrial justice’ (Selznick); for collective solidarity and agency; for the transformation of shared beliefs into legally binding norms; and for the enforcement of those norms. If labour law is currently in ‘crisis’, then a promising route out of the crisis, we argue, is for the law to recover its procedural focus, facilitating and encouraging these processes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 757395).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dukes, Professor Ruth
• Authors: Dukes, R., and Streeck, W.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Journal of Law and Society
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0263-323X
• ISSN (Online): 1467-6478
• Published Online: 12 November 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Law and Society 47(4): 612-638
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License