Climate change and industrial relations: Reflections on an emerging field

Flanagan, F; Goods, C

Climate change and industrial relations: Reflections on an emerging field

Flanagan, F

Goods, C

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Industrial Relations, 2022, 64, (4), pp. 479-498
Issue Date:: 2022-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Flanagan, F https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3401-1918
dc.contributor.author	Goods, C
dc.date.accessioned	2023-07-19T22:19:35Z
dc.date.available	2023-07-19T22:19:35Z
dc.date.issued	2022-09-01
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Industrial Relations, 2022, 64, (4), pp. 479-498
dc.identifier.issn	0022-1856
dc.identifier.issn	1472-9296
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171582
dc.description.abstract	What does climate change mean for the field of industrial relations? In this article, we argue that a meaningful disciplinary response to climate change requires more than simply widening the scope of industrial relations scholarship to include environmental dynamics. It demands recognition of the ways in which the categories of analysis and intellectual preoccupations of the discipline have been shaped by what we term the ‘fossil capitalist inertia’ exerted by their largely 20th-century origins. Climate change requires critical reflection of the extent to which industrial relations processes that were introduced to increase fairness and equality in a fossil capitalist context have the potential to contribute to different kinds of unfairness and inequality in an era of climate instability. The article identifies four frontiers of the scholarly development already underway that give effect to this conceptual enlargement: critical engagement with the concepts of (a) ‘sustainable development’ and (b) ‘just transition’ (c) analyses of reconfigured union identities and strategies and (d) discussions of the roles and influence of employer associations and state actors in labour and environmental relations and transitions. The article concludes by introducing five new articles that advance existing scholarly reflections on the challenge of a changed climate for industrial relations along each of these frontiers.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Industrial Relations
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/00221856221117441
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1402 Applied Economics, 1503 Business and Management, 1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	Industrial Relations
dc.subject.classification	3505 Human resources and industrial relations
dc.subject.classification	4801 Commercial law
dc.title	Climate change and industrial relations: Reflections on an emerging field
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	64
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-07-19T22:19:34Z
pubs.issue	4
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	64
utslib.citation.issue	4

Abstract:

What does climate change mean for the field of industrial relations? In this article, we argue that a meaningful disciplinary response to climate change requires more than simply widening the scope of industrial relations scholarship to include environmental dynamics. It demands recognition of the ways in which the categories of analysis and intellectual preoccupations of the discipline have been shaped by what we term the ‘fossil capitalist inertia’ exerted by their largely 20th-century origins. Climate change requires critical reflection of the extent to which industrial relations processes that were introduced to increase fairness and equality in a fossil capitalist context have the potential to contribute to different kinds of unfairness and inequality in an era of climate instability. The article identifies four frontiers of the scholarly development already underway that give effect to this conceptual enlargement: critical engagement with the concepts of (a) ‘sustainable development’ and (b) ‘just transition’ (c) analyses of reconfigured union identities and strategies and (d) discussions of the roles and influence of employer associations and state actors in labour and environmental relations and transitions. The article concludes by introducing five new articles that advance existing scholarly reflections on the challenge of a changed climate for industrial relations along each of these frontiers.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171582