Fordism (Sociology)
Fordism is a system that arose during the last decades of the 19th Century through to the second decade of the 20th Century. Fordism was first recognized by the Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937). He was the writer of 'Americanism and Fordism'. It was about Fordism representing a new form of capitalism which created a new economic structure which affected social life of the laborer on a large scale. Ford came up with a method of manufacturing inexpensive automobiles using the assembly line which could finish a car in 98 minutes.
It was the dominant method of mass production and mass consumption with the help of assembly-line technology. This process broke down complicated tasks into many smaller and simpler ones, which were suitable of unskilled labor.
It was practiced on a large scale, using semi skilled workers. These workers, usually male, had one task each that they had to repeatedly do which is why they did not need to be particularly trained. This method was already used in the slaughterhouses in Chicago in the 1980's but Ford was the first person to use it on a large scale with the single colored and model, mass produced T model car. Ford was the creative force behind the growth to preeminence of the automobile industry, still the world's largest manufacturing activity. As Womack, Jones, and Roos (1990: 11) explain:
"Twice in this century [the auto industry] has changed our most fundamental ideas about how we make things. And how we make things dictates not only how we work but what we buy, how we think, and the way we live." This system that he created produced standardized products and workers were controlled via Taylorism.
Taylorism, also known as the scientific method, was a method of controlling a work place started of by Frederick W Taylor. It was a great contribution to apply the principles of scientific analysis to work and it's organization. He was interested in the development of industrial production but did not think the way of
It was the dominant method of mass production and mass consumption with the help of assembly-line technology. This process broke down complicated tasks into many smaller and simpler ones, which were suitable of unskilled labor.
It was practiced on a large scale, using semi skilled workers. These workers, usually male, had one task each that they had to repeatedly do which is why they did not need to be particularly trained. This method was already used in the slaughterhouses in Chicago in the 1980's but Ford was the first person to use it on a large scale with the single colored and model, mass produced T model car. Ford was the creative force behind the growth to preeminence of the automobile industry, still the world's largest manufacturing activity. As Womack, Jones, and Roos (1990: 11) explain:
"Twice in this century [the auto industry] has changed our most fundamental ideas about how we make things. And how we make things dictates not only how we work but what we buy, how we think, and the way we live." This system that he created produced standardized products and workers were controlled via Taylorism.
Taylorism, also known as the scientific method, was a method of controlling a work place started of by Frederick W Taylor. It was a great contribution to apply the principles of scientific analysis to work and it's organization. He was interested in the development of industrial production but did not think the way of
References: & Bibliography (1) J. Fulcher & J. Scott(2007) Sociology, 3rd Edition, Oxford. (2) Churton, M (2000) Theory and Method, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. (3) Slattery, M (2003) Key Ideas in Sociology, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes, 2nd edition. (4)F. Gambino (1998), A critique of Fordism, 1st Edition, Theo Nicholas, NY (5)http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/f/o.html (6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordism (7)http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/merupert/Research/Fordism/fordism.html www.coursenotes.co.uk/fordism.php (9) http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Post-Fordism%20in%20Primary%20Schools