The Régulation School, the employment relation and financialization

This article examines recent developments in the published work of prominent members of the French Regulation School. It is argued that major revisions are taking place in the school's assessment of contemporary capitalist systems. In particular, the primacy attached to employment relationships is under question, as is the emphasis on distinct national trajectories. In spite of these significant changes in interpretation, it is argued that the work of the school, which continues to insist that market economies can function effectively only in a well-defined institutional context, is still of great interest from a methodological point of view.