Neither Social Partnership nor Class Struggle: A Plea for New Social Contracts

What scope is there for social regulation that avoids the uniformity of the state and the anarchy of the market? This article argues the need for new forms of `social contract', regulatory processes based on the negotiation of differences through devolved procedures within a `public space'. Collective bargaining is a classic form of such devolution, but there are many others, and the advance of citizenship requires their extension. The construction of new social contracts is the most promising route for the reconstruction of solidarity in an era of increased individualism.