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Fordism was not just a production method; it was a consumption method. Starting in 1916, Ford consciously set out to shape families and individuals to consume the increased goods brought about by rationalized factory production. It was not easy /1
his factories had very high turnover rates. Workers resisted being forced to undergo 8 hours of monotonous factory work only for the privilege of having the time and money to consume these products during their "8 hours of leisure" /2
but Fordism hegemony took hold, and by the end of the second world war, the Fordist Man was all there was. Fordism atomised families from one another. It depraved work of any charm it may have once held by abolishing the crafts. /3
The production taking hold today, the flexible "just in time" (JIT), is in the process of creating a New Man. Postmodern aesthetics, with its confusing simultaneous condemnation and celebration of consumerism, reflects the uncertainty of what form this New Man will take. /4
We are in an in-between period. Fordism dominates but JIT is increasingly taking hold. This is a key time. Labour needs to intervenes at this intersection, as it did in the 1930s, to take advantage of the chaos and try to extract some wins for the working class. In my opinion, /5
there is opportunity for some synthesis here. Somehow keeping the productivity of Fordism, but making work qualitatively better (like the crafts were). It is of course necessary to increase wages and get better benefits. But the quality of work -- the 'feeling' -- of work /6
