Post-Fordism: The Social Dispersal of Labour?

Abstract

Various terms have been used to characterise novel forms of social organisation that developed in the late 20th century; including ‘network society’, ‘disorganised capitalism’, ‘lean production’, ‘flexible specialisation’ and ‘post-Fordism’. Again these are often thought to have strongly negative outcomes for labour. There are significant conceptual differences between the diverse accounts, with some writers, for example, using the term neo-Fordism to emphasise elements of continuity with previous practices. Nevertheless, most writers describe a transformation of relations between production and consumption and both between and within firms. New information technologies transform work and also break the link between size and efficiency, so production can be rapidly switched to meet customers’ changing needs. The giant corporations decline, superseded by networks of smaller firms as agents of innovation and growth.