Postfordism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Post-Fordism describes the economic system that replaced Fordism in the western industrialized nations . Originally, the term goes back to the Japanese engineer Taiichi Ōno , the inventor of the new production model at Toyota, which was first referred to as " Toyotism " based on Henry Ford's model .

features

In contrast to the Fordist model, post-Fordism is characterized by a high degree of flexibility in the areas of work organization, work groups and task integration. In addition, production can be improved through the support of qualified workers (intellectual resources) and teamwork . Sustainability and adaptation to the market is ensured by an increase in research investments and production in small series, which also leads to a strong product differentiation. An additional increase in flexibility enables the use of multi-purpose machines and, moreover, a low level of vertical integration (i.e. the proportion of components designed and produced in-house is reduced). In addition, a functioning just-in-time delivery can save storage costs.

Further features are the de-hierarchization and a de-bureaucratisation of the administration in the company itself. Added to this is the elimination of all state security systems and a consistent privatization of security. In general, you get an individualization of all areas of life organization and thereby the basis of the increasing "private land grab".

Last but not least, value is placed on utilizing the advantages of other countries or companies (e.g. through outsourcing or economies of scope ).

history

Historically, from the 1970s onwards, post-Fordism replaced Fordism, which had established itself as the dominant economic form in capitalism . The reason for the transition is assumed that Fordism would not have been able to exhaust its production reserves, since after its implementation in the triad ( North America , Western Europe , Japan ) it was no longer able to permanently maintain the hegemony of the USA secure, which is considered to be the driving force of western capitalism.

Under the auspices of securing the supremacy of the triad, a further increase in accumulation was no longer possible only through an increase in mass production following the Ford model on the basis of standardized wage labor and the exploitation of natural resources. The over-accumulation crisis in the 1980s was followed by neoliberal restructuring and globalization, which led to a dynamization of world economic trade. In this context, more and more structures of the state security systems that were described as inefficient were dismantled and replaced by private-sector ones that were considered efficient.

As a result, a separation between the sphere of production and the private sphere was no longer possible, which was followed by a tendency towards “internal land grabbing” and an increase in the rate of exploitation (wage reduction, rationalization, intensification of labor). At the same time, the abolition of the state security systems and the deregulation in trade (international financial trade) ensured a rationalization from an economic point of view, which ensured global economic prosperity. The exploitation of natural resources was an important foundation of Fordism. After it became increasingly clear how limited natural resources such as soil, energy (oil, coal) and forests are, unlimited value creation through further exploitation is no longer possible ( The Limits to Growth ).

In a post-Fordism is valorisation of natural resources held by the transfer into private property rights. ( Gene patents , biopiracy ). The protection of intellectual property in natural resources becomes more and more important, the more expensive the extraction of real natural resources becomes. It is the same with knowledge and intellectual property. In Fordism according to Taylorist style, the production knowledge was built into the machine and this was "only" operated by the worker (classic assembly line work, successor to manufacture , dissolution of the craft). The machine was the investment object to which the knowledge of production was mechanically inscribed.

The steady expansion of patent law to new areas of intellectual production as well as efforts to regulate the property rights to media products and their reproduction can be understood as a consequence of the increasing importance of intellectual property. The increasing incorporation of workers in the production and value creation process is derived from this. The worker is more and more fully engaged (in the context of independent work). In other words, both with his manual skills (in the context of classic production) and with his physical-mental skills (creativity, innovation and cooperation skills).

The theorists of neo-Marxist operaism interpret the transition from Fordism to post-Fordism as a reaction of capital to the massive labor struggles of 1973 to 1974. The strikes of the workers for better working and living conditions were so massive and solidary that capital alongside a series of concessions changed production in order not to have to meet all demands. In Fordism, workers had little skill and worked with many of their colleagues in large groups, which strengthened solidarity with one another and made strikes easier. The division into smaller teams, the division of the workforce through the ability of the more qualified to have a say, etc., made the previous forms of labor disputes extremely difficult.

See also

literature

Web links