The subject of labour law emerged in Germany as a separate discipline as late as the beginning of the 20th century. Nevertheless the roots of modern German labour law – and through Otto Kahn-Freund of English and British labour law as well – can be traced back to the writings of a group of so-called social reformers in Germany in the last third of the 19th century. As the perspective of these writers was chiefly a sociological and economical one, their writings were regarded for a long time as the subject of investigations on economic and social history. Insofar as legal historians turned to investigating these writings, they concentrated on the treatment of legal issues more generally and the labour contract more specifically.
The present book on the contrary investigates the economic and sociological analysis of these authors and traces the influences on their thought and the roots of their propositions. Thus it presents an effort to trace the roots of thinking on what is presently understood to be the labour contract back to 1776. That is the reason why this investigation of legal history does not primarily focus on legal sources but rather on literature treating the topics from an economical and sociological point of view. In doing this it takes as its starting point the close connection between legal and economic theories about the shape of labour relations in the 19. century. In order to ascertain the principles the different theories are built upon as well as the assumptions and preconditions on which they rest, the investigation in the present book focuses on the primary sources and presents them in the context of their emergence. In doing this the attempt is made to extract the implications of economic theories for the legal regulation. Thus the present book attempts to put the development of thought leading to the emergence of the notion of the “labour contract” and of labour law in a new perspective. In this way it contributes to a better understanding of the preconceptions which lie at the heart of modern labour law.Möchten Sie Ihre wissenschaftliche Arbeit publizieren? Erfahren Sie mehr über unsere günstigen Konditionen und unseren Service für Autorinnen und Autoren.