Rhenish capitalism is an ideal-typical model of capitalism which is characterised by a bank-centered financing system, close economic ties between banks and companies, a balance of power between shareholders and management, and a social partnership between unions and employers. The West German economy of the 1950s to the 1980s is the prime example of that model of capitalism which contrasts with the liberal Anglo-Saxon forms of capitalism. In accordance with recent debates about Varieties of Capitalism, the authors argue that research on capitalism should pay more attention to change over time. The book also claims to put the firm into the centre of analysis. The empirical contributions uncover the differences between French and German corporate governance practices comparing two European automobile producers (VW and Renault), analyse legal debates and practices of corporate control in post-war Germany, show the tension between national corporate governance and increasing internationalisation by reference to four major West German producers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and fibres; and explore the opportunities encountered by German big banks vis-a-vis their customers from big industry. Furthermore, they show that coordinating culture in the supply relationship of the German automobile industry came under pressure at the end of the boom and stress the importance of communication processes as a basis for interest coordination in Rhenish capitalism. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Business History.

Das Buch untersucht, weshalb der Elite-Begriff erst nach 1945 in Deutschland eine tragende Rolle zur Beschreibung der politisch-sozialen Ordnung spielte. "Elite" wird dabei als eine bestimmte Form des Meinungswissens uber die Ordnung der Gesellschaft verstanden, das im Wesentlichen auf vier Annahmen basiert: 1. Jede Gesellschaft zerfallt in die Elite und die Nicht-Elite. 2. Die Elite bildet den (einzig) relevanten Teil einer Gesellschaft. 3. Eliten werden sozial wirksam durch die Herstellung eines Konsenses, nicht durch Unterwerfung. 4. Elite-Mitglieder werden in Systemen der Leistungsauslese unter Konkurrenzbedingungen ausgewahlt. Damit wurde der westdeutschen Gesellschaft genau die stabile politisch-ideelle Ordnung gegeben, die den politischen Systemen seit 1871 fehlte."

During the 20th century, European societies were faced with the task of reacting to the new challenges posed by the basic processes of industrial modernity - such as high industrialization, the emergence of modern industrial workers, urbanization, mass migration, the emergence of a political mass market, scientification and 'Disenchantment of the World' - went out. To this end, they created different but comparable institutions, mechanisms, constellations of actors, patterns of interpretation, forms of knowledge and discourses. From a European perspective, the volume investigates the extent to which their specific forms were determined by the respective 'patterns of order' - as the largely nationally-specific ensemble of dominant ideas of order, key concepts, social and time-specific experiences and problems.