Change and Conflict in the New Economy evaluates three decades of change in employment and social regulation, questioning the paradigm of Post-Fordism as a stable development within contemporary capitalism. Bringing together leading commentators in the United Kingdom and Spain, it critiques the assumption that there is a new stable, de-centralized regime of employment that is post-bureaucratic and flexible. It focuses on four key areas: the extent to which labour markets and organisational forms have changed; the role of the language and practice of the state as a labour market player and employer in influencing such developments; the changes in terms of working relationships given the context of changing gender, family structures and forms of consumption; the re-shaping both politically and institutionally of labour collectivism. The book argues that the current state of play is unstable and fundamentally fraught with conflict and tension. The political landscape may be changing but the underlying tensions within the new rhetoric and practices of flexibility are as intense as ever. What is more, the book points to ironic developments in the manner in which bureaucracy re-asserts itself.