Abstract

This paper starts from the observation that, when studying collective labour relations in Belgium, little attention is paid to the overall political and socio-economic context in which the relations between organized employees and employers develop. Regional aspects especially barely come in for explicit discussion. In order to fill the theoretical vacuum facing any attempt in this direction, use was made of the analytical possibilities inherent in the fractures and "verzuiling"-perspective that have already proved their relative usefulness within the Belgian context. Several important qualifications were however required and were added. Among them, we can mention : 

1) a structural difference (illustrated by means of the concepts zero-sum and non-zero-sum) in the functioning of the economic fracture as opposed to both other (language and religious) fractures and 

2) the fact that the conditioning character of the economic fracture should occupy a central possition. On the basis of these options it is possible to analyse the collective labour relations in the framework of the "community" problems within a decentralisation context, rather than operating with a concealing fourth "community fracture", which has recently been supposed to be present.

How to Cite:

Vilrokx, J., (1981) “Sociaal-economische verhoudingen in het twee-ledige België: een interactionele en multidimensionele benadering”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 2(3-4), 122–158. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.85794