Editorial

摘要

The aim of the European Journal of Industrial Relations has been, from the outset, to foster comparative analysis of developments in different European countries and to explore supranational processes and institutions. As a corollary, we do not normally publish single-country studies unless these are used to develop broader cross-national analytical themes. The present issue is a very good illustration of our focus. The opening article, by Marko Grdesic, addresses the contrasting experience of Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia since the break-up of former Yugoslavia. Grdesic views the period of break-up as a 'critical juncture' which to some extent initiated path-dependent national trajectories, but also emphasizes the subsequent influence of two partially independent dimensions of trade union power, societal and political. The different configurations of power in turn shaped the orientations and influence of unions in the subsequent institutional architecture. This analytical model, he suggests, may usefully be applied to other Central and Eastern European countries.