Braverman and the Re-discovery of the Labour Process

Abstract

After the long and largely barren period when work became a forgotten issue, studies of the labour process have blossomed to such an extent that they constitute a growth industry in themselves. The major research of Braverman (1974), Friedman (1977a), Edwards (1979) and Burawoy (1979) concerning the development of the capitalist labour process as a whole has stimulated, and coexists with, studies of particular issues or industries (Gorz, 1976a; Zimbalist, 1979; Berg, 1979; Nichols, 1980a; Levidow and Young, 1981; Wood, 1982).¹