Tripartism in Comparative and Historical Perspective

This article provides an overview of interpretive approaches to the historic development of tripartism globally. Locating tripartism firmly within four broad approaches to labour management, we seek to qualify those strands that regard the phenomemon as lacking in current relevance. We argue that elements of post-war compromises persist and indeed have been recently initiated even if in many societies they exist in dilute form. Thus, the concept's very elasticity and polyvalence ensures its continued relevance, in turn calling for further examination of its historic evolution.