In 1919 tripartism, intended as a form of cooperation between employers, employees and governments, was one of founding principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The chapter explores the theoretical sources of such an idea. It is argued that the early 20th century British Pluralist movement offered a model of governance predicated upon a system of codetermination between interest groups and governments that was exploited by a group of British international civil servants for creating the ILO; secondly, that this resulted in an international agency created to offer a compromise with moderate trade unions and to avoid violent social revolution; and thirdly, that through the ILO the tripartite idea was put at the service of the post-war conservative movement, contributing to reconstructing social order and capitalism.
Abstract