Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Bruce Kaufman has provided a novel and thought-provoking analysis of the evolution of the field of industrial relations. In addition to analyzing the development of the academic field of industrial relations during the twentieth century in the United States, he assesses the state of the major professional association of the field, the Industrial Relations Research Association, and offers prescriptions for the revival of each. The three reviewers whose comments follow all take issue with some of Kaufman's arguments, but all praise him for presenting a well-written, carefully reasoned thesis. I share their high opinion of the book's quality. The special attention we give the book in this review symposium, however, might not be warranted if it were not also the case that the subject Kaufman explores is of unquestionable interest and practical importance to industrial relations scholars and practitioners. Few would deny that the field of industrial relations and the practice of collective bargaining in the United States are in crisis-or, at least, at a crossroads. At the simplest level, the shrinking number of