Abstract
This chapter describes a set of mainly sociological ideas and arguments which have been associated with a loose grouping of academics and writers working at the margins of British academic sociology in the 1970s and 1980s. It also explores the way in which this set of ideas was influential in the Department of Industry for a time, especially in the period leading up to the establishment of the Finniston Committee of Inquiry into the Engineering Profession. The central plank in the argument was that British culture consistently undervalues the practical business of making things. This is particularly marked in the disdain that the British show for manufacturing industry. This anti-manufacturing ethos pervaded Government thinking, and is equally to be found in much of British social science.
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© 1993 British Sociological Association
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Glover, I., Kelly, M. (1993). Engineering Better Management. In: Payne, G., Cross, M. (eds) Sociology in Action. Explorations in Sociology. British Sociological Association conference volume series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12108-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12108-3_5
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