IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v16y2002i2p251-281.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spectres of Marx and Braverman in the Twilight of Postmodernist Labour Process Research

Author

Listed:
  • Tony Tinker

    (Baruch College, CUNY, USA Leicester University, UK University of South Australia, Australia TTinker@baruch.cuny.edu)

Abstract

John Bellamy Foster's 1998 introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital (1998) missed an opportunity in failing to engage the industry of (largely British) postmodernist labour process scholarship that followed the first edition of the book. This research `almost universally rejects [Braverman's] understanding of the labour process' (Spencer, 2000: 223). Using Braverman (and Marx) as benchmarks, this article finds the postmodernist tradition deficient in several respects. First, it consistently underappreciates the political aims and impact of Braverman's work (notwithstanding constant rhetorical support for political engagement). Second, it remains incorrigibly philosophical (logocentric) - entrapped in incessant recycling of philosophies of undecidability. Despite claims to reject the hubris of Cartesian analysis, it remains infatuated by it. Third, it misconstrues Braverman's anthropological humanism as a degenerate form of (idealistic) humanism, and thus leaves underexplored the dialectical politics of transcendent negation. Fourth, it psychologizes social and political processes, and ultimately retreats to an unreconstructed notion of ideology, where working people are construed as wrongheaded for seeking refuge from coercion in supposedly false identities. Fifth, in urging working people to release an `inner self' from a false identity, the analysis presupposes an underlying human essence that is atheoretical and essentialist. Finally, the analysis is blind to the social and historical specificity of Braverman's political task; exposing `skill upgrading via education' as an ideology that obfuscates economic decline, recession and deindustrialization. The upgrading canard - expounded by all recent US presidents up to George W. Bush III - is dutifully discharged (to this day) by most business schools and management centres, including those in Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Tinker, 2002. "Spectres of Marx and Braverman in the Twilight of Postmodernist Labour Process Research," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(2), pages 251-281, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:16:y:2002:i:2:p:251-281
    DOI: 10.1177/095001702400426839
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/095001702400426839
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/095001702400426839?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Knights, David & Collinson, David, 1987. "Disciplining the shopfloor: A comparison of the disciplinary effects of managerial psychology and financial accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 457-477, August.
    2. Tinker, Anthony M. & Merino, Barbara D. & Neimark, Marilyn Dale, 1982. "The normative origins of positive theories: Ideology and accounting thought," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 167-200, April.
    3. Damian O’Doherty & Hugh Willmott, 2000. "The Question of Subjectivity and the Labor Process," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 112-132, December.
    4. Armstrong, Peter, 1985. "Changing management control strategies: The role of competition between accountancy and other organisational professions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 129-148, April.
    5. Armstrong, Peter, 1987. "The rise of accounting controls in British capitalist enterprises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 415-436, August.
    6. Michael Rowlinson & John Hassard, 2000. "Marxist Political Economy, Revolutionary Politics, and Labor Process Theory," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 85-111, December.
    7. Paul Thompson & Chris Smith, 2000. "Follow the Redbrick Road," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 40-67, December.
    8. David Knights & Andrew Sturdy, 1997. "Marketing the Soul: from the Ideology of Consumption to Consumer Subjectivity," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: David Knights & Tony Tinker (ed.), Financial Institutions and Social Transformations, chapter 8, pages 158-188, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Tinker, Tony, 1991. "The accountant as partisan," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 297-310.
    10. David Knights, 2000. "Hanging out the Dirty Washing," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 68-84, December.
    11. Andrew L. Friedman, 1984. "Management Strategies, Market Conditions and the Labour Process," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Frank H. Stephen (ed.), Firms, Organization and Labour, chapter 11, pages 176-200, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cooper, Christine, 2015. "Entrepreneurs of the self: The development of management control since 1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 14-24.
    2. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    3. Saravanamuthu, Kala & Tinker, Tony, 2003. "Politics of managing: the dialectic of control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 37-64, January.
    4. Himick, Darlene, 2016. "Actuarialism as biopolitical and disciplinary technique," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 22-44.
    5. Walker, Stephen P., 2000. "Benign sacerdotalist or pious assailant. The rise of the professional accountant in British management," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 313-323, April.
    6. Baxter, Jane & Chua, Wai Fong, 2003. "Alternative management accounting research--whence and whither," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 97-126.
    7. Graham, Cameron, 2008. "Fearful asymmetry: The consumption of accounting signs in the Algoma Steel pension bailout," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 756-782.
    8. Velayutham, Sivakumar & Perera, Hector, 1996. "Recent developments in the accounting profession in New Zealand: A case of deprofessionalization?," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 445-462.
    9. Bayou, Mohamed E. & Reinstein, Alan & Williams, Paul F., 2011. "To tell the truth: A discussion of issues concerning truth and ethics in accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 109-124, February.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/6742 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Michela Arnaboldi & Irvine Lapsley, 2010. "Asset management in cities: polyphony in action?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(3), pages 392-419, March.
    12. Shapiro, B. P., 1998. "Toward a normative model of rational argumentation for critical accounting discussions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(7), pages 641-663, October.
    13. David J. Cooper, 1994. "La recherche sur la formation en comptabilité: élargir l'horizon," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(S1), pages 189-206, December.
    14. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie, 2014. "How can we explain internal auditing? The inadequacy of agency theory and a labor process alternative," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 771-782.
    15. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3828 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Kamla, Rania, 2015. "Critical Muslim intellectuals’ thought: Possible contributions to the development of emancipatory accounting thought," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 64-74.
    17. David J. Cooper, 1994. "Expanding the Horizons of Research on Accounting Education," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(S1), pages 163-177, December.
    18. Hanne Nørreklit & Lennart Nørreklit & Falconer Mitchell, 2010. "Towards a paradigmatic foundation for accounting practice," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(6), pages 733-758, August.
    19. Shapiro, Brian P., 1997. "Objectivity, relativism, and truth in external financial reporting: What's really at stake in the disputes?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 165-185, February.
    20. Tweedie, Jonathan, 2023. "The emancipatory potential of counter accounting: A Žižekian critique," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    21. Alper Erserim, 2016. "Intellectual Structure of Accounting Research: A Historical Review on the Journal of Accounting Organization Society," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(2), pages 1-1, May.
    22. Halliday, Terence C. & Carruthers, Bruce G., 1996. "The moral regulation of markets: Professions, privatization and the english insolvency act 1986," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 371-413, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    capital; Cartesian; dialectics;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:16:y:2002:i:2:p:251-281. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.