Competition & Change

In this introduction to the special issue, we provide a brief overview of the two distinct but connected meanings of the phrase ‘varieties of capitalism in crisis’: (1) the crisis of empirical political economies under conditions of capitalist diversity; and (2) the crisis of the institutionalist approaches dominant within the literatures on capitalist diversity, which have displayed a near-total lack of reflection on the implications of the post-2007 period for the frameworks being employed and the assumptions they are based upon. From this starting point, via a discussion of the papers in the special issue, we consider key aspects of what could constitute an alternative conceptual apparatus: uneven development, variegation, and labour. We conclude by calling for greater dialogue and reflexivity across all of the literatures which study capitalist diversity, for we still have much to learn from each other.

The whole pattern of European integration is in crisis and important institutional transformations can be observed. It is argued that traditional comparative approaches, such as the Varieties of Capitalism literature, fall short in providing an adequate analytical framework to deal with the European crisis. We propose applying a theoretical framework which allows us to focus on the specific and asymmetric linkages between national economies in combination with a systematic analysis of institutions at different spatial levels. This is provided by a modified and expanded regulation approach. We provide an empirical overview of the different regimes of accumulation and their interaction, and our analysis of the asymmetric interaction helps us to explain the crisis and its dynamics. In addition, we analyse the reactions to the crisis and the consequences in terms of institutional transformations at different spatial levels. Finally, conclusions regarding the dynamics of future political-economic developments in Europe are drawn.

This article analyses the crisis of Portuguese capitalism within the wider crisis of the Eurozone. Portugal's prolonged economic stagnation, associated with an increasingly dependent and fragile insertion in the Eurozone, can now be seen as an early manifestation of the asymmetries and fractures between the Eurozone's core and its periphery that are now wider and more visible. By focusing on the manifestations of ‘embedded neoliberalism’ in a country of the periphery, the article sheds light on how neoliberal restructuring has made the economic structure increasingly incompatible with the social developments that had previously helped to guarantee its legitimacy. The troika's structural adjustment reveals that this incompatibility is now fully assumed and that, in the absence of social resistance, the brunt of adjustment will be felt by the majority of workers.

This article critically discusses the recent enlargement of the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC) approach to Latin America as an attempt to come to terms with the persistence of transnational socioeconomic inequalities. It finds that the VoC approach largely fails to deliver a convincing analysis and, by implication, to inform political strategies capable of overcoming them. Through an engagement with the VoC approach's foundational theoretical body and the new ‘hierarchical market economies’ ideal-type, three main analytical shortcomings are identified: (1) the approach's functionalist firm-centrism; (2) its methodological nationalism; and (3) its fundamental ahistoricism. By way of conclusion, the article proposes an alternative perspective on transnational inequalities which is centred on classical dependency approaches but also combined with insights from geographical political economy, among others.

This article analyses the reasons for the continuation of the Norwegian consensual model of capitalism with its strong focus on collective bargaining and a universal public sector. Two main causes are identified. First, capital in Norway is characterized by the predominance of small and medium-sized companies and, as a result, is comparatively weak. Second, the agency of labour has been decisive and trade unions are still able to balance the structural power of Norwegian employers. Prior to the 2005 elections, trade unions adopted a more independent position from the Labour Party, and the Campaign for the Welfare State broadened the social basis for the maintenance of the public sector by bringing together trade unions and social movements. As a result, the Labour Party moved towards the left and continued to support traditional social democratic achievements such as the universal public sector and a strong role for trade unions in economic and social policy making.

New dynamics of the division of work and employment relations are emerging in the Nordic labour market. The use of flexi-time and agency and posted workers, typically of foreign origin, is becoming more widespread. Simultaneously, certain parts of manufacturing and construction processes are being standardized and relocated abroad. The present analysis reveals that there is a new regime emerging, intertwined with the international disintegration of production, which relies upon the inequality of different parts of the labour process and ‘spaces of exception’ and is rendered possible by European Union provisions of free movement of services. Hence, the Finnish — and the Nordic — consensual labour market model is under attack. Although it is too early to draw conclusions as to whether Finland has turned into a more ‘free-market’ model, the crucial question is the extent to which negotiations on labour relations remain in the grasp of labour unions in the coming years.