Re-Evaluating the Labour Process Debate

Abstract

From the publication of Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital there has been a continued debate on the labour process in Britain. What relevance does this polemic have for the contemporary global restructuring of work? This article reviews the main developments within the broad labour process debate, including changes in the division of labour, control structures and cultural management. In addition, it links labour process enquiry to wider structural trends and the relationship between the idea of a specifically capitalist labour process and divergent national ways of organizing work. The authors argue that the tools and concepts of labour process theory remain equally important for analysing today's workplace.