Industrial Relations History in Transnational Perspective: A Review Essay

Inspired by the ‘transnational turn’ in history writing, this essay reviews recent scholarship dealing with industrial relations from a transnational perspective. The essay starts with conceptual reflections on the merits and potential pitfalls of a transnational approach, and suggests that that such an approach should include not only the study of actors, networks and processes at the transnational level (top down perspective), but also that of the impact of transnational factors on industrial relations in specific countries and locations (bottom up perspective). The main part of the essay critically reviews the available scholarship with regard to this two‐pronged agenda and makes suggestions for future research.