Institutionalising Class Conflict: Otto Kahn-Freund and the Political Economy of Labour Law

Ruth Dukes and Wolfgang Streeck (Eds.)

October 28, 2026

MPIfG Book

The book cover features the title “Institutionalizing Class Conflict” and a crowd at a demonstration for workers’ rights, including a red sign that reads “Stand Up for Workers’ Rights!”

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Expected online publication date: April 2027
Print publication: 30 April 2027
ISBN 978-1-047-76608-1

Reviews

This superb collection provides a compelling political economy of labour law’s invention as industrial democracy in the early twentieth century, its institutionalisation after World War II, and its retrenchment from the late 1970s. It is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding labour law’s contemporary doldrums.
Judy Fudge, FBA, FRSC, School of Labour Studes, McMaster University

Institutionalising Class Conflict provides an illuminating and original account of the institutional, legal, and ideational foundations of European capitalism. Through engaging with the writing and politics of legal scholar Kahn-Freund, the authors show how ideas about class conflict and industrial democracy shaped (and were shaped by) the changing political economy of 20th century Europe. This book should be widely read for its insights on the possibilities and limits of labor law, as well as the vulnerability of capitalist democracy.
Virginia Doellgast, Professor of Employment Relations and Dispute Resolution, ILR School, Cornell University