Differences between Public and Private Sectors Employees Following the Managerial Turn in European States

Abstract

This article reviews research on the public–private divide at the European level in the years from 1990–2000, focusing on four countries: Germany, France, Great Britain, and Sweden. Looking beyond the legal and historical characteristics of each of these countries, the objective here is to highlight the different ways to account for the importance of employment sector in the analysis of social hierarchies. In many studies conducted at the national level, the opposition between the public and private sectors is a significant dimension that benefits from being connected to an analysis in terms of social hierarchy. Despite the managerial reforms of European states, working in the public sector still creates a set of specific characteristics: a particular relationship with the state, public interest, or even public life, perceptible in cultural, trade union and political practices.