''This article describes the British social scientist. For the American jazz pianist, see

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts ...

.'' Richard Hyman (born 9 July, 1942) is a British academic in the field of

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

. Hyman is a

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and a fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

. A conference was held in his honour by the British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR) in 2009.

Life and work

Hyman graduated from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and a Ph.D. in 1968. His doctoral thesis on the evolution of trade unions in the United Kingdom was the basis for his 1971 book ''The Worker's Union.'' As a student of Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, he developed a critical perspective on the Oxford School of pluralism that they espoused, challenging the theoretical foundations within the field. In 1968, Hyman became a reader and later as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of industrial relations at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. In 2000 he was made Professor Emeritus at the

. He is the author of numerous books and essays (including ''Strikes'' and ''Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction''), writing extensively on the themes of industrial relations, industrial conflict, collective bargaining, trade unionism, and labour market policy. His comparative study ''Understanding European Trade Unionism: Between Market, Class and Society'' is widely cited by scholars working in the field. He is the founder and former editor of the ''

European Journal of Industrial Relations European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

''. Whilst Hyman's primary impact has been on theoretical approaches to industrial relations, his influence has extended to practitioner audiences. International organisations that have sought his collaboration include the International Labour Organization in Geneva, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the

European Trade Union Institute The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) is the independent research and training centre of the European Trade Union Confederation ( ETUC). Its mission is to support, strengthen, and stimulate the European trade union movement by building bridge ...

. He has given presentations to conferences and congresses organised by a wide range of European bodies, including the

German Trade Union Confederation The German Trade Union Confederation (; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people (31 December 2011). It was founded ...

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider i ...

, the

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

, the General Confederation of Greek Workers and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers. Hyman was involved in the left-wing British student movement and now identifies as an independent leftist. In May 2009, the British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR) held a conference in his honour. In 2020, he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Selected writings

* ''Strikes'' (1972) * ''Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction'' (1975) * (Ed. with Wolfgang Streeck): ''New Technology and Industrial Relations'' (1988) * ''The Political Economy of Industrial Relations'' (1989) * ''Understanding European Trade Unionism. Between Market, Class and Society'' (2002) * ''Trade Unions in Western Europe: Hard Times, Hard Choices'' (with Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick) (2013) * ''Democracy in trade unions, democracy through trade unions?'' (2018, in: ''Economic and Industrial Democracy'') * ''Concise Introduction to Employment Relations'' (2025)

Literature about Richard Hyman

* ''Symposium in Honour of Richard Hyman''. In: ''British Journal of Industrial Relations'', Vol. 49, Issue 2, June 2011, pp. 209–410 * Carola Frege, John Kelly and Patrick McGovern: ''Richard Hyman: Marxism, Trade Unionism and Comparative Employment Relations''. In: ''British Journal of Industrial Relations'', Vol. 49, Issue 2, June 2011, pp. 209–230 * Gregor Gall: ''Richard Hyman: An assessment of his Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction''. In: ''Capital & Class'', Vol. 36, Issue 1, February 2012, pp. 135–149

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:hyman, richard Industrial relations 1942 births Living people Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Oxford