Work, Difference, and Social Change: Two Decades After Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital

Abstract

On May 8–10, 1998, scholars and activists gathered at the “Work, Difference, and Social Change” conference hosted by the Sociology Department of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. The conference marked the twentieth anniversary of the “New Directions in the Labor Process” conference. The focus in 1978 was on debates in labor process theory inspired by the publication of Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital. This became not only one of the most important books in contemporary Marxist scholarship but also a respected alternative to mainstream social-scientific analyses of work and industry. Contrary to prevailing perspectives of that time, which reflected the imperatives and interests of management, Braverman argued that work is systematically degraded. Employers strive to control and standardize the production process in order to maximize profit and to reproduce unequal (class-based) work relations. The conference brought together staunch defenders of Braverman as well as those who sought to move beyond the theoretical and methodological approach offered in Labor and Monopoly Capital.