Forward to the Past? The Case of ‘New Production Concepts’

Abstract

In the 1980s a growing number of books and articles utilized the terms ‘post-Fordism’ ‘post-Taylorism’ ‘flexible specialization’ and ‘new production concepts: This paper explores a number of common themes which have been developed under these separate titles’. It is argued that many of these concepts do not represent a clear break from past theoretical traditions. Rather, they offer a restatement of many of the ideas found in Industrialism and Industrial Man (Kerr et al. 1960a). Moreover, it is argued that a number of conceptual and empirical problems exist that invalidate many of the claims made by adherents to these various labels. Particular attention is paid to Australian contributors to..