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The pub is a prominent social institution integral to British identity. This book charts the social historical development of the English public house culminating in the contemporary gastropub. It explores issues of class, gender, and national identification through the lens of taverns, inns, and pubs through time

This paper studies the interaction between global systems of production/innovation and national capitalisms, from the theoretical perspectives of varieties of capitalism and global value chains or global production networks (GPNs). The paper's theoretical contribution lies in two areas: it links firms' construction of GPNs to national institutional configurations of lead firms but it also argues that under the impact of global markets the notions of national institutional reproduction and comparative economic advantage need to be re-conceptualized to reflect the complexity of global effects. The empirical part presents a comparative study of two industries in three countries-the UK, the United States and Germany. The paper utilizes original data on GPNs, based on a large number of interviews in firms and associations. Adapted from the source document.

The article adopts a systematic historical and cross-national perspective to examine changes in employment policy and practice from a period of welfare capitalism to the current period of market capitalism. The trends towards employment flexibility in Britain, West Germany and France are documented in some detail, and both the role of the state and the practices of employers are examined. An attempt is made to assess the significance of the flexibility trends in the three societies and to explain their emergence/intensification in the 1980s. Finally, the article considers the impact of flexible employment practices on the quantity and quality of employment of various social groups.

This paper provides the first detailed study of lower white-collar workers in Soviet society. It traces the historical development of this social category during the Soviet period, gives a general social profile of the stratum now and locates it in the Soviet system of social stratification. Comparisons are made with equivalent strata in Western society, and both divergences and commonalities are identified. The former are explained by reference to the different economic, political/ideological and cultural factors which have shaped the system of social stratification and movement within it. Similarities are seen to be a consequence of the fact that the same division of labour characterises both types of society.