The Varying Prospects for Postgrowth Eco-Social Policies by Regime Type: The Politics of Working Time Reduction in Germany and the UK

Regime theory has been used superficially to understand variation in socio-ecological transitions in industrialized countries. The broad array of concepts developed in recent decades to explain greater than expected regime dynamism is largely unused. These concepts highlight the varying generation by regime type of institutional fluidity, a consequence of exogenous or endogenous change underpinned by strategic political interaction in multi-dimensional policy spaces. How these dynamics affect the prospects for eco-social policy transition in different regimes remains unexplored. This paper addresses this gap focusing on a postgrowth transition, investigating the politics of the normative eco-social policy working time reduction. This policy is chosen as a potential ‘counter-hegemonic’ reform, one which postgrowth scholars theorize could initiate a broader challenge to growth models. A theory testing process trace is undertaken comparing the political prospects for working time reform in conservative Germany and the liberal UK, regime types which have received less attention in the eco-social regime literature. Empirically, the paper shows a shifting politics of working time reduction, with momentum for change stalled in Germany due to the declining status of coordinating institutions but of increased vitality in the UK mainly due to long hours and worker health problems. Theoretically, the dynamic regime model developed in the paper is shown to have utility in assessing the varying prospects for postgrowth eco-social policy change and how regime-related institutional legacies affect such processes. Further investigation of complementarities with political economy theorizing is recommended. Practically, the paper highlights the importance of cross-class, multi-actor coalition-building to confront the challenging circumstances proponents of postgrowth transition face.