Labour Process Theory [Hardcover]

How are we to make sense of the way work is organised and controlled? To what extent is its design the result of technological demands, the interests of capital or processes of negotiation and struggle? In recent years labour process analysis, revived by Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital , has been most influential in shaping our thinking about this question. With contributions from leading authorities in the field, this book reviews the contribution of the labour process theory to the study of work organisation. Providing a fresh response to criticisms of 'Bravermania' and lost momentum, the volume explores the theoretical foundations of labour process analysis and suggests new directions for its developmentNotes on the Contributors Introduction The Labour Process Debate: A Theoretical Review 1974-1988; C.R.Littler Crawling from the Wreckage: The Labour Process and the Politics of Production; P.Thompson Understanding the Conflict in the Labour Process: The Logic and Autonomy of Struggle; P.K.Edwards Labour and the Labour Process; M.Wardell Managerial Strategies, Activists, Techniques and Technology: Towards a Complex Theory of the Labour Process; A.Friedman A Ghost in the Machine?: The State and the Labour Process in Theory and Practice; D.Strinati Gender and the Labour Process: A Reassessment; J.West Fragmented Labours; G.Burrell Subjectivity, Power and the Labour Process; D.Knights Subjectivity and the Dialects of Praxis: Opening up the Core of Labour Process Analysis; H.Willmott IndexDAVID KNIGHTS is a Senior Lecturer in the Manchester School of Management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He has conducted research into industrial relations, equal opportunities for ethnic minorities and sex discrimination in recruitment. He has published in sociology and management journals. He is co-author of 'Managing the Multi-Racial Workforce' and co-editor of a number of books on the labour process.