Through a detailed examination of the German coal industry, Martin Parnell illustrates the historical evolution of the practice of industrial self-government and argues that historical continuities lie at the root of a full understanding of German capitalism. His study, which takes us from the eighteenth century to the present day, examines how intensive cooperation between state, management, private sector, and unions has shaped the industry both in growth and decline. He argues that it is Germany's strong tradition of industrial self-government that is the key institution characterizing the organization and functioning of the German political economy, uniting the politics of the dominant state role and the economics of industrial production. Parnell uses and develops the ideas of German economic historians, especially Abelshauser, whose influential work on the nineteenth-century origins of capitalist organization have recently begun to have a wide impact in translation. His work is a valuable contribution to the debate about the origins, forms, and future of German neo-corporatism.