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The Labour Process Debate: A Theoretical Review 1974–88

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Labour Process Theory

Part of the book series: Studies in the Labour Process ((SLP))

Abstract

Braverman’s Labor and Monopoly Capital was published in 1974. It stimulated a widespread debate in Britain, which gathered pace through the latter part of the 1970s. This debate has extended and diversified, so that now there are three major overlapping currents:

  1. (1)

    Questions about deskilling and the attempt to construct a satisfactory model of skill changes.

  2. (2)

    Questions about labour markets and the attempt to construct a satisfactory model of capitalist labour markets.

  3. (3)

    Questions about managerial strategy and control.

This leaves out of account various other strands of the debate; nevertheless the three areas above seem to me to be the core areas and to help to define the parameters of the debate. In this chapter I intend to focus on the third area: questions about managerial strategy and control; this is the area of research which has shown the most theoretical development in the past few years and which has generated heated controversy (e.g. Storey, 1985; Friedman, 1987).

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  1. Craig R. Littler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UMIST, Manchester, UK

    David Knights (Senior Lecturer in the Manchester School of Management) & Hugh Willmott (Lecturer in the Manchester School of Management) (Senior Lecturer in the Manchester School of Management) &  (Lecturer in the Manchester School of Management)

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© 1990 David Knights and Hugh Willmott

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Littler, C.R. (1990). The Labour Process Debate: A Theoretical Review 1974–88. In: Knights, D., Willmott, H. (eds) Labour Process Theory. Studies in the Labour Process. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20466-3_2

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