Post-Fordism
Post Fordism is a term used to describe the growth of new production methods defined by flexible production, the individualization of labor relations and fragmentation of markets into distinct segments, after the demise of Fordist production. It was widely advocated by French Marxist economists and American labor economists in the 1970s and 1980s.[1] Definitions of the nature and scope of post-Fordism vary considerably and are a matter of debate among scholars.[citation needed]
Fordism was the dominant model of production organization from the 1910s to the 1960s, which led to the massive growth of the American manufacturing sector and the establishment of the US as an industrial powerhouse. It was characterized by the assembly-line model, perfected by Henry Ford. Some post-Fordist theorists argue that the end of the superiority of the US economy is explained by the end of Fordism.[1]
Post Fordist consumption is marked by increased consumer choice and identity. As such, retailers seek to collect consumer data through increased information technology to understand trends and changing demand. Production networks, therefore, demand greater flexibility in their workforce, leading to more varied job roles for employees and more individualized labour relations, and more flexible modes of production to react to changing consumer demand, such as lean manufacturing.[2]
Overview
Post-Fordism is characterized by the following attributes:[3]
- Small-batch production
- Economies of scope
- Specialized products and jobs
- New information technologies
- Emphasis on types of consumers in contrast to the previous emphasis on social class
- The rise of the service and the white-collar worker
- The feminisation of the work force
Consumption and production
Post-Fordist consumption is marked by individualism and consumer choice. Patterns of consumption are oriented toward lifestyle and identity and consumption is a key part of the culture. The consumer has become a 'global dictator' which determines the organization of production and retailers seek to process consumer data to react to patterns of consumer demand. As such, there is a strong link between post-Fordism and the rise of information technology.[2]
Post-Fordist production prioritizes increased flexibility, in particular
Theoretical approaches
According to geographer Ash Amin, post-Fordism is commonly divided into three schools of thought: the regulation school, flexible specialization, and neo-Schumpeterianism.[4]
Regulation school
The
According to regulation theory, every Regime of Accumulation will reach a crisis point at which the Mode of Regulation will no longer support it, and society will be forced to find new rules and norms, forming a new Mode of Regulation. This will begin a new Regime of Accumulation, which will eventually reach a crisis, and so forth. Proponents of Regulation theory include Michel Aglietta, Robert Boyer, Bob Jessop, and Alain Lipietz.[5]
Flexible specialization
Proponents of the flexible specialization approach (also known as the neo-Smithian approach) believe that fundamental changes in the international economy, especially in the early 1970s, forced firms to switch from mass production to a new tactic known as flexible specialization.[6]
Instead of producing generic goods, firms now found it more profitable to produce diverse product lines targeted at different groups of consumers, appealing to their sense of taste and fashion. Instead of investing huge amounts of money in the mass production of a single product, firms now needed to build intelligent systems of labor and machines that were flexible and could quickly respond to the whims of the market. The technology associated initially with flexible production was the numerical control technology, which was developed in the United States in the 1950s; however, the CNC, developed in Japan, later replaced it. The development of the computer was very important to the technology of flexible specialization. Not only could the computer change the characteristics of the goods being produced, but it could also analyze data to order supplies and produce goods in accordance with current demand. These types of technology made adjustments simple and inexpensive, making smaller specialized production runs economically feasible. Flexibility and skill in labor were also important. The workforce was now divided into a skill-flexible core and a time-flexible periphery. Flexibility and variety in the skills and knowledge of the core workers and the machines used for production allowed for the specialized production of goods. Modern just-in-time manufacturing is one example of a flexible approach to production.
Likewise, the production structure began to change on the sector level. Instead of a single firm manning the assembly line from raw materials to finished products, the production process became fragmented as individual firms specialized in their areas of expertise. As evidence for this theory of specialization, proponents claim that Marshallian "industrial districts," or clusters of integrated firms, have developed in places like Silicon Valley, Jutland, Småland, and several parts of Italy.
Neo-Schumpeterianism
The new-Schumpeterian approach to post-Fordism is based upon the theory of Kondratiev waves (also known as long waves). The theory holds that a "techno-economic paradigm" (Perez)[7] characterizes each long wave. Fordism was the techno-economic paradigm of the fourth Kondratiev wave, and post-Fordism is thus the techno-economic paradigm of the fifth, which is dominated by information and communication technology.
Notable Neo-Schumpeterian thinkers comprise Carlota Perez and Christopher Freeman, as well as Michael Storper and Richard Walker.
Post-Fordist theory in Italy
In Italy, post-Fordism has been theorised by the long wave of
In terms of the development of the 'technical and political class-composition', in the post-Fordist era the crisis explains at the same time 'high points of the capitalist development' and how new technological tools develop and work altogether (money form, linguistic conventions, capital and language). [Zanini, A. 2010, 'On the Philosophical Foundations of Italian Workerism: A Conceptual Approach', Historical Materialism, 18, 4: 39–63.]
Changes from Fordism to post-Fordism
Post-Fordism brought on new ways of looking at consumption and production. The saturation of key markets brought on a turn against mass consumption and a pursuit of higher living standards.[8] This shift brought a change in how the market was viewed from a production standpoint. Rather than being viewed as a mass market to be served by mass production, the consumers began to be viewed as different groups pursuing different goals who could be better served with small batches of specialized goods.[9] Mass markets became less important while markets for luxury, custom, or positional good became more significant.[10] Production became less homogeneous and standardized and more diverse and differentiated as organizations and economies of scale were replaced with organizations and economies of scope.[11]
The changes in production with the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism were accompanied by changes in the economy, politics, and prominent ideologies. In the economic realm, post-Fordism brought the decline of regulation and production by the nation-state and the rise of global markets and corporations. Mass marketing was replaced by flexible specialization, and organizations began to emphasize communication more than command. The workforce changed with an increase in internal marketing, franchising, and subcontracting and a rise in part-time, temp, self-employed, and home workers. Politically, class-based political parties declined and social movements based on region, gender, or race increased. Mass unions began to vanish and were instead replaced by localized plant-based bargaining. Cultural and ideological changes included the rise in individualist modes of thought and behavior and a culture of entrepreneurialism. Following the shift in production and acknowledging the need for more knowledge-based workers, education became less standardized and more specialized. Prominent ideologies that arose included fragmentation and pluralism in values, post-modern eclecticism, and populist approaches to culture.[12]
Examples
Italy
One of the primary examples of specialized post-Fordist production took place in a region known as the Third Italy. The First Italy included the areas of large-scale mass production, such as Turin, Milan, and Genoa, and the Second Italy described the undeveloped South. The Third Italy, however, was where clusters of small firms and workshops developed in the 1970s and 1980s in the central and northeast regions of the country. Regions of the Third Italy included Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli, and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Each region specialized in a range of loosely related products and each workshop usually had five to fifty workers and often less than ten. The range of products in each region reflected the post-Fordist shift to economies of scope. Additionally, these workshops were known for producing high quality products and employing highly skilled, well-paid workers. The workshops were very design-oriented and multidisciplinary, involving collaboration between entrepreneurs, designers, engineers and workers.[13]
Japan
There were several post-
Over time, these six changes in production in Japan were institutionalized.Criticisms
The main criticism of post-Fordism asserts that post-Fordism mistakes the nature of the Fordist revolution and that Fordism was not in crisis, but was simply evolving and will continue to evolve.
The term "post-Fordism" is gradually giving way in the literature to a series of alternative terms such as the
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84787-895-3.
- ^ OCLC 1127310396.
- ^ Hall, S. (October 1988) "Brave new world." Marxism Today, p. 24.
- OCLC 929531414.
- ^ Nilges 2008:
- ^ Piore, Michael J. and Sabel, Charles F., "The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity" (1984). Faculty Books. 171. https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/171
- .
- ^ Milani 2000: 33-35
- ^ Kumar 1995: 43
- ^ Milani 2000: 35
- ^ Kumar 1995: 51
- ^ Kumar 1995: 52
- ^ Kumar 1995: 37-39
- ^ Bernard 2000: 154-156
- ^ Kumar 1995: 60
- ^ Kiely 1998: 109
- ^ Kumar 1995: 58-65
- ^ Kiely 1998: 101
- ^ Kumar 1995: 168
References
- Amin, Ash (1994). Post-fordism: A Reader. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-18857-6.
- Baca, George (2004) "Legends of Fordism: Between Myth, History, and Foregone Conclusions," Social Analysis,48(3): 169–178.
- Jessop, Bob (1995). The Regulation Approach, Governance and Post-fordism, Economy and Society. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-18857-6.
- Alain Lipietz (Spring 1997). "The Post Fordist World: Labor Relations, International Hierarchy and Global Ecology". Review of International Political Economy: 1–41.
- Kumar, Krishan (1995). N. From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society: New Theories of the Contemporary World. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-18559-3.
- Ray Kiely (Spring 1998). "Globalization, Post-Fordism and the Contemporary Context of Development". International Sociology. 13 (1): 95–111. S2CID 145754520.
- Milani, Brian (2000). Designing the Green Economy: The Postindustrial Alternative to Corporate Globalization. Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-9190-X.
- Bernard, Mitchell (2000). "Post-Fordism and Global Restructuring". In Stubbs, Richard; Geoffrey R.D. Underhill (eds.). Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford University Press Canada.
- Nilges, Mathias (2008). "The Anti-Anti-Oedipus: Representing Post-Fordist Subjectivity". Mediations Journal.
- Gielen, Pascal (2015 - 3rd ed.), The Murmuring of the Artistic Multitude. Global Art, Politics and Post-Fordism. Valiz: Amsterdam, ISBN 9789492095046