Fordism

Fordism, it refers to the mass production of standardized goods using assembly line technology, involving few skills and repetitive work by employees. ‘Each company was composed of many different specialized departments, each producing components and parts that were eventually channeled towards the moving line for final assembly.’(Cohen & Kennedy 2007: 95 ) For instance, in 1900, there were 18 million horses, but only 8,000 cars in America. For local people, car just was a bulky and expensive “stupid bug”, after Henry Ford brought Fordism in manufacturing, the cars of Ford’s company had become a culture and can be seen at everywhere, such as movies and songs. This essay will describe the main characteristics and history of Fordism, then, it will introduce Taylorism, after explaining the reason for decline in Fordism and describe the nature of Post-Fordism, finally, this essay will evaluate that Taylorism and Fordism have been replaced by Post-Fordism in capitalist societies.

Fordism is named after Henry Ford (1863-1947) who is a pioneer and car maker in manufacturing factories in the United States. This term first was introduced by Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), ‘an ultra-modern form of production and of working methods such as is offered by the most advanced American variety, the industry of Henry Ford’ Before Fordism is introduced in industry, the craftsman built the Vulcan cars, and it usually took several weeks to make Vulcan cars which were sold to upper class. In 1908, Henry Ford produced the first Model T car, and brought Fordism into industry. The workers who worked for Ford benefited from Fordism: the working time from 9 hours to 8 hours; the salary from $2.5 to $5（at least）. The productivity increased sharply. From that time, Fordism was accepted by workers widely.

The main characteristics of Fordism can be concluded in six points: 1. Single products are produced on a mass scale by fixed machinery in the form of assembly lines. 2. Work is