Employer resistance to the Fordist production process: 'flawed Fordism' in post-war Britain

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Clark, I. ORCID: 0000-0001-7698-2715, 2001. Employer resistance to the Fordist production process: 'flawed Fordism' in post-war Britain. Contemporary British History, 15 (2), pp. 28-52. ISSN 1361-9462

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1080/713999403

Abstract

The flawed nature of Britain's fordism in the post-war period and its consequent impact on post-fordism in the British economy appears clear-cut and incontrovertible. Craft-dominated trade unions controlled the shop floor and prevented management from introducing fordist methods of work organisation and an associated pattern of regulation for the labour process. The argument of this article contends that as descriptors of British industry in its various stages of post-war development, the utility of terms such as 'fordism', 'flawed fordism' and 'post-fordism' is strictly limited. The status of these terms as analytical and empirical categories is controversial, yet they remain significant in the literature on contemporary history and economic decline. Documentary, empirical and historical material illustrates that the introduction of mass standardised production on the fordist model was less than successful during the post-war period yet as this article argues employee resistance appears less significant than employer resistance and the structural impact of British markets.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Contemporary British History

Creators:

Clark, I.

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Date:

2001

Volume:

Number: