Fordism and Post-Fordism
1920 - 1970 : Fordism
- 1913 : Henry Ford established first assembly line in Highland Park, MI - mass production requires mass consumption, large market, cultural uniformity - mass produced goods were standardised - workers were paid higher wages to afford to consume more - Taylorism increased efficiency of production, Fordism increased the market to which the efficiency could be sold
Consequences of Post-Fordism
- JIT changes production processes, requires increased coordination and flexibility - disintegration of firms, centralisation of industries - from KWS to Workforce State - less regulation, more individualisation - increased labour market uncertainty, social polarisation, inequality, competition
Historical Evolution of Capitalism
- Kondratiev Long Waves = 40 - 60 years, period of stagflation followed by period of growth - Kuznets Cycles = 15 - 20 years, changes in infrastructure - Business Cycles = 7 - 10 years - 1920 - 1960 : Golden Age of Capitalism - 1973 : OPEC oil crisis - 1981, 1991 : recessions
Regime of Accumulation (ROA)
- a common and temporarily coherent way of producing, distributing, and exchanging goods - transition from one ROA to another involves a rupture in production relations : new technologies give way to new production techniques - characterised by : set of production techniques, key industrial sectors, organisation of labour relations, predominant form of competition, distributional mechanism of profits, geographic patterns
KWS as Fordism MoSR
- capital and labour work together to float mass production through state intervention - state regulate business, finance, labour and provides infrastructure, education, healthcare - mass economic democracy - predictable wage and work environment compromises
What is Post-Fordism ?
- deindustrialisation in developed countries - from economies of scale to scope - flexibilisation of work - surge in services, FIRE, telecommunications - increasing scientific and high-tech knowledge - key industries : telecom, semiconductors, biotech, medical devices - high global competition - growth of export processing zones - from JIC to JIT inventory and production systems
Geography of Fordism
- develops most in US Frost Belt - requires mass expansion of world trade and investment in order to sell overseas and find cheaper resources - 1944 : Bretton Woods signed : USD serves as world currency, fixed exchange rates, regulates international capital flows
Conclusions
- fordist production in developing countries - post-fordist research and development in the core - mass production and consumption of durables combined with niche production - point of departure for NIEs
Regulation Theory (RT)
- framework to describe changes in macrostructures of capitalist economies - focus on geographic specifications and institutions - involves ROA and MoSR - recognises commonalities that are consistent over long periods of time - develops explanations for economic phenomena
Key Developments Enabling the Growth of Fordism
- rise of KWS and government role - suburbanisation and mass consumption possibilities - maturing and increased efficiency of production techniques - key industries : cars, heavy equipment, steel, petrochemicals, electrical applicances - new research and development in aviation, CAT, nuclear - competition was mostly oligopolistic and domestic
Taylorism
- separate management and production jobs according to production line - breaking down into a series of highly deskilled and standardised tasks - increase in output decreases production costs
Mode of Social Regulation (MoSR)
- set of norms, institutions and conventions that support ROA - provides coordinative and regulatory framework - reflects the reproduction of social activities - regularises the processes of reproduction - provides stability
The Undoing of Fordism
- stagflation in the US - 1960s - 1970s : rigid mass production systems prevent flexibility, unstable consumer markets, strikes and labour disruptions, pressure on KWS programmes, inflation - 1971 : Bretton Woods terminated - US transfers from Gold Standard to floating exchange rate - 1973 : oil crisis causes a rupture of ROA
