Braverman and the Contribution of Labour Process Analysis to the Critique of Capitalist Production - Twenty-Five Years on

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Capitalist Production ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
Conceptual Confusion ◽  
Different Levels

This paper seeks to reassess the contributions made by Braverman and subsequent labour process writers to the critique of capitalist production. Braverman's main motivation lay with the subversion of pro-capitalist ideologies. He identified deskilling tendencies with the capitalist imperative of accumulation in order to promote the case for revolutionary change. The labour process debate that Braverman helped to initiate, while successful in broadening understanding of concrete work relations, has difficulties in excavating the necessary interconnections of capitalist alienation and exploitation. In particular, there is a problem in separating out the different levels of analysis that link essence and appearance in the work context. Narrow focus on the labour process creates unnecessary conceptual confusion about the specificity of capitalist production, and also condones an unduly pessimistic political agenda on the prospects for transcending capitalist domination. In eschewing the important interconnections between workplace organisation and capitalist social relations, labour process analysis risks inverting the critical intent of Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital by promoting the continuation of the extant social order.

Beyond technological determinism: revitalising labour process analyses of technology, capital and labour

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-159
Author(s):  
Paul Thompson ◽  
Knut Laaser
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Critical Commentary

Technological determinism is a recurrent feature in debates concerning changes in economy and work and has resurfaced sharply in the discourse around the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. While a number of authors have, in recent years, critiqued the trend, this article is distinctive in arguing that foundational labour process analysis provides the most effective source of an alternative understanding of the relations between political economy, science, technology and work relations. The article refines and reframes this analysis, through an engagement with critical commentary and research, developing the idea of a political materialist approach that can reveal the various influences on, sources of contestation and levels of strategic choices that are open to economic actors. A distinction is made between ‘first order’ choices, often about adoption at aggregate level and ‘second order’ choices mainly concerned with complex issues of deployment. This framework is then applied to the analysis of case studies of the call centre labour process and digital labour platform, functioning as illustrative scenarios. It is argued that the nature of techno-economic systems in the ‘digital era’ open up greater opportunities for contestation.

The Stabilisation of the Capitalist Order and Liberal Value Orientations in Serbia

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-407
Author(s):  
Mladen Lazić ◽  
Jelena Pešić
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Economic Liberalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Value Changes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Normative Value ◽  
Value Dissonance

AbstractBased on research data from 2003, 2012, and 2018, the authors examine the extent to which capitalist social relations in Serbia have determined liberal value orientations. The change of the social order in Serbia after 1990 brought about a radical change of the basis upon which values are constituted. To interpret the relationship between structural and value changes, the authors employ the theory of normative-value dissonance. Special attention in the analysis is paid to the interpretation of value changes based on the distinction between intra- and inter-systemic normative-value dissonance. In the first part of their study, the authors examine changes in the acceptance of liberal values over the period of consolidation of capitalism in Serbia, while in the second part they focus on the 2018 data and specific predictors of political and economic liberalism.

scholarly journals Social relations and self-rated health in a multi-ethnic social housing area undergoing demolition

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Kvorning ◽  
A Srivarathan ◽  
S Nygaard ◽  
R Lund
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Housing Area ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Contact Frequency

Abstract Background During the coming years, selected social housing areas in Denmark will undergo large structural changes as part of a political agenda. Previous studies on the effects of such interventions are inconclusive. Residential areas are important for the development of social relations and health. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between social relations and self-rated health (SRH) and the interaction with country of origin in an ethnically diverse social housing area undergoing demolition, and compare results with the municipality. Methods Data include multilingual interviewer driven surveys with residents aged 45+ years before demolition began in 2018 (N = 209) and during the demolition in 2019 (N = 132), and a health survey on municipality level (N = 1638). Information on social relations include contact frequency with and support from family, friends and neighbors. SRH was dichotomized into high/low. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex and Western/non-Western origin are presented. Results In cross-sectional analyses from 2018, low contact frequency and low support increased the risk of low SRH, OR = 1.44 (0.63-3.29) and OR = 1.23 (0.62-2.48), especially when also having non-Western origin compared to having high contact frequency or support and Western origin, OR = 6.27 (1.80-21.84) and OR = 4.43 (1.68-11.69), respectively. The same association was seen in 2019 and on municipality level. Low contact frequency in 2018 was associated with higher risk of developing or maintaining low SRH in 2019 compared to the group with high contact frequency in 2018 in longitudinal analyses, OR = 3.04 (0.91-10.91). Conclusions Poor social relations increased the risk of low SRH, especially when also having non-Western origin. Having poor social relations before the demolition was associated with an increased risk of developing or maintaining low SRH during the demolition in an ethnically diverse social housing area. Key messages Having low contact frequency before area demolition in a social housing area in Denmark increased the risk of developing or maintaining low self-rated health after demolition had begun. Having poor social relations and non-Western origin is associated with a strong increased risk of low self-rated health in a deprived ethnic diverse social housing area in Denmark.

Mortuary Practices and the Social Order at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben A. Nelson ◽  
J. Andrew Darling ◽  
David A. Kice
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Ancestor Worship ◽  
Western Mexico ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Epiclassic occupants of the site of La Quemada left the disarticulated remains of 11-14 humans in an apparently sacred structure outside the monumental core of the site. Several lines of evidence are reviewed to generate propositions about the ritual meanings and functions of the bones. A comparative analysis reveals the complexity of mortuary practices in northern and western Mexico, and permits the suggestion that these particular remains were those of revered ancestors or community members. The sacred structure is seen as a charnel house, in which the more ancient tradition of ancestor worship expressed in shaft tombs was essentially perpetuated above ground. Hostile social relations are clearly suggested, however, by other categories of bone deposits. Recognition of the rich variability of mortuary displays leads to questions about their role in the maintenance of the social order.

The Decline of Labour Process Analysis and the Future Sociology of Work

Sociology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 931-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian O'Doherty ◽  
Hugh Willmott
Keyword(s):  
Process Analysis ◽  
Sociology Of Work ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
The Future

Conservatism

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kivisto
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Right

Conservatism refers to one of the constituent political positions found in all contemporary democracies. It can be construed as a philosophy, an ideology, a political party, a movement, a disposition, a mode of discourse, performance style, and an emotional relationship to the political. Since the birth of modern democracies in the aftermath of the French Revolution, it has become commonplace to describe the range of political options available to the citizenry as occupying a spectrum from left to right, with a range of alternatives between the extreme poles, including a centrist position in the middle that straddles the divide. The left was associated with promoting challenges to established authorities and existing hierarchies, along with calls for increased economic equality and expanded social and political rights to all citizens, including the heretofore marginalized. This contrasts with the right, which was defined as defending inequalities and differential entitlements, concentrating matters involving rights around preserving property rights, shoring up public and social order, and promoting traditional values and conventional social relations. In this context, liberalism became a mark of political identity associated with the left, as did socialism, while conservatism, broadly construed, represented the right. This framing of politics also includes the possibility of underminings by extremism on both the left and right. For the former, the main threat since the Russian Revolution has been posed by revolutionary communism, while right-wing extremism has manifested itself in reactionary movements, including fascism and illiberal populism. Since liberalism and conservatism must be understood in relational terms, the spatial and temporal settings for the politics of opposition will vary considerably. It is impossible to do justice to the vast literature on conservatism in a bibliography such as this. What follows is a more delimited, and thus manageable examination of work on conservatism. First, it focuses on conservatism in the United States, and not elsewhere. Second, it is chiefly concerned with conservatism since the end of World War II. Third, it concentrates on the study of conservatism by sociologists and those working in cognate disciplines; while not all the authors are card-carrying sociologists, their works reflect a sociological character, although the exception to this third point is the overview section, which presents key readings by advocates of conservatism, and thus offers insider depictions of the meaning of conservatism. Fourth, this article does not concentrate solely on extremist right-wing movements; rather, in surveying the relevant literature on American conservatism broadly construed, it points to a growing consensus that the radical right wing has pushed mainstream conservatism increasingly further to the right.

Contradictions of the upcoming period: points for developing the agenda for medium- and long-term perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
D.M. Belousov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Object Of Control ◽  
Trade Wars ◽  
New Social Order ◽  
Different Levels

Analysis of the economic and social situation allows for the conclusion that the world is entering an era of global instability and contradictions. There is clearly a crisis of compensatory and basic institutions. Humans cease to be the subjects of the historical process and instead are becoming the object of control. Contradictions are sharply increasing at different levels. We are witnessing the conflict between labor and capital related to the national nature of labor and the global nature of capital. Production, security and regional applied science are changing, but financial and institutional systems remain global. Information and trade wars are intensifying. During a multi-level crisis, it is difficult to predict what a new social order will be like, but the transition to it will be difficult and highly possibly rife with (macro-) regional conflicts.

scholarly journals LEGAL CULTURE AS A FACTOR OF LEGITIMACY OF THE SOCIAL AND LEGAL ORDER

2021 ◽  
pp. 466-477
Author(s):  
Evgeny M. Shumkin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Sphere Of Influence

In sociology, the interest in order is determined, among other things, by the identification of various factors that labilize and determine it. The factor under consideration, as a subject, is objectively difficult for social analysis and practical application of its results. Among the trigger reasons are legal culture and legitimacy, which are studied in this theoretical work from heuristic and analytical perspectives. It is assumed that legal culture, as a set of values aggregated by society and the state, can itself act as a factor of legitimacy for such an order. The disclosure of heuristic interest is carried out through legal consciousness of a person, a conscious choice of the model of rational (for oneself or the state) behavior, and the work of socio-legal institutions. Identifying the immanent signs of legal culture, we come to a conclusion that the critical mass of socially accumulated and legal knowledge provokes a qualitative leap in the development of both social and legal orders. This development determines the formation of an architecture of not only social but also nomological values, which creates the necessary conditions for the stability of social relations according to the objective rules provided by the legislator. The author emphasizes the impossibility of predetermining the primacy of the values under consideration since social and normative actions ensure the necessary balance of interests that are corresponding in nature, where unsatisfied frustrating expectations are considered as the main problems. Such expectations are associated with the violation of this balance, expressed in the permanent conflict between law and law enforcement, as the quintessence of the penetrating clash of social and legal orders, where society insists on defeating part of the monopoly on violence in the case of citizens’ deviant behavior and demilitarization of the work of legal institutions that is related to the condemnation of non-conformity, and where the state protects the objectivity of the rules of conduct and the extension of their sphere of influence by giving them legitimacy. The considered social order is seen as the basis for such an organization of life in society where the state acts as a moderator, introducing norms as irreducible standards of responsibility of each individual, correcting his behavior model towards rationality through legal culture that ensures legal awareness, conformity and legitimacy of socio-legal institutions. Legal culture laid down by society and supported by the state makes it possible to adopt a rational model of behavior in society and to make it resistant to destructive social phenomena.

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