Concertation sociale et transformations socio-économiques en Belgique, de 1944 à nos jours

The socioeconomic development of most European countries has been largely shaped by social dialogue, by negotiations between employers and workers representatives. To that respect, Belgium has played a pivotal role. The Belgian post-WW2 institutions, aimed at fostering social dialogue, are often alluded to as a reference. In sixty years, these institutions have changed, along with the transformations of the economic, social and political context. We study here the dynamical movement that simultaneously transforms the social dialogue, on the one hand, and the historical context in which it is anchored, on the other. We contrast two thirty-year periods: the golden age, followed by an age of upheaval. The former is characterized by the setting up and the extension of a coherent model while the latter rather appears as a defensive withdrawal in a context of crisis and of socioeconomic upheaval. In the midst of the turmoil, the social partners uneasily seek for meaningful responses.