Notwithstanding ongoing processes of liberalisation and disorganisation in all capitalist economies, Austrian Corporatism has been found to display a remarkable resilience across distinct institutional fields. The focus of this article is on the role of social actors in (re)producing or changing institutional structures and practices of Austrian Corporatism. In the four fields investigated, i.e., economic and social policy making, collective wage bargaining, employment relations at enterprise level and vocational education and training, collective actors have contributed to an institutional conversion of corporatist institutions towards new purposes in an internationalised context rather than to institutional erosion. However, during the government coalition of the Conservative People's Party and the right-wing populist Freedom Party (2000-2006) it became clear that the normative commitment to Social Partnership would reach the limits of its capacity if the power-balance shifted towards a more neoliberal stance. Non-market institutions are therefore seen as providing 'borrowed stability' rather than a robust basis for the resilience of Austro Corporatism. Trade unions in particular are required to shift their orientation towards their membership and find new ways of combining their role as Social Partnership organisations and social movements in order to safeguard non-market institutions.
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