Politics of Transformation in Germany

This chapter explores the political process among German stakeholders in the globalization of production and finance. Germany’s adaptation method was not based on any centralized pre-planning, but on mutual coordination and adaptation among stakeholders such as national and local governments, industry associations, unions, works councils, and investment experts. Despite the trend in neoliberal financialization and globalization, unlike the U.S., Germany sidestepped the unilateral claim of shareholder priority through collective consultations. This chapter examines first how Germany reinforces its export-driven growth strategy in the course of overseas expansion, focusing on changes in the social alliances for export growth at national level politics. And then, we explore the politics at a micro level, discussing coordination of interfirm conflicts, labor–management conflicts, and the politics of R&D employees and works councils, in the course of reorganization of corporate governance and production.