Teaching Comparative Industrial Relations

Introduction Mark Bray Comparative research is vital to the development of all social science disciplines. Indeed, many scholars have argued that the making of comparisons is the only method by which explanations of social behaviour and the development of theory occur. For example, the author of one comparative study of economic development in 'settler' societies argued: Only one analytical method is to be found anywhere in the social sciences: the comparative method. We cannot choose whether or not to make comparisons (between societies or between eras in the same society); we can only choose the items which are to be compared, and whether to proceed with more or less caution and self-consciousness. The value of research comparing different societies has certainly not gone unnoticed by industrial relations scholars The inspiration for the present monograph, however, is the enormous contribution comparative analysis can make to the teaching of industrial relations. The collection of papers presented here arises from a conference convened by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Teaching (ACIRRT) at the University of Sydney on 2 November 1990. The conference sought to bring together scholars engaged in the teaching of comparative industrial relations in order to exchange views, to explore the contribution of comparative analysis to teaching, and to work towards the development of better courses in comparative industrial relations. Themes of the Monograph A number of important themes run through the papers presented in this volume and, indeed, provided the focus of discussion at the preceding conference. The first concerned the range of countries which should be examined in comparative industrial relations courses. On the one hand, Castles presents a persuasive case for restricting study to a relatively small number of Western capitalist countries and using these countries to develop a better understanding of Australian society in general, and Australian industrial relations in particular. The argument here is that students' understanding of Australian industrial relations can be expanded by comparing the different institutional structures which have developed to regulate industrial relations in countries which are fundamentally similar to our own, in terms of economic and political systems, standard of living, and even culture. This approach parallels the 'most similar' strategy used in comparative research. Bray argues that there are also pragmatic reasons for adopting a relatively restricted teaching agenda, especially with undergraduate students in their early years of study. These more pragmatic factors probably explain the predominance …