Study Questions: Address the following questions fully and completely in your own words and voice; save your answers electronically. You will see at least one of these questions on your next unit exam in which you will be asked to demonstrate that you have read and mastered the material. Prepare your answers now.  What is "the problem of management"? What is the detailed division of labor? What functions does it serve? What dysfunctions? Describe scientific management? Is it in widespread practice in corporate America? What is the commodification of social life? Discuss the growth of the working class under monopoly capitalism. How is this different than earlier industrial societies?

Required Reading:

Sociocultural Systems: Contemporary Expression of Classical Theory, Chapter 5: Harry Braverman's Marxist Analysis

Recommended Reading:

Big Business Moves in on the Farmer

Links:

Harry Braverman's Marxist Analysis

Some Short Takes:

Braverman does Marx better than Marx does Marx...Braverman's analysis of 20th century capitalism and its impact on workers is the best in the literature...Do not be put off by the title of his main work, Labor and Monopoly Capital, it is an exciting read.

Reference:

Braverman, Harry (1974/1998) Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Features   |   Syllabus   | Theorists