Critical Intellectuals and the Academic Labour Process

  • Frank Worthington

Abstract

This chapter deals with some of the issues raised in other chapters in this book within the context of labour process theory (LPT) in organisation and management studies. For over three decades, particularly in the United Kingdom (Smith and Thompson 2001), LPT has become a growth area in management school teaching and research (Jaros 2001). The stated aim of those working in the labour process tradition in management education is to challenge the mainstream management view that the practice of management is a purely technical-rational actively designed to meet organisational complex goals. LPT contests this assumption by showing how the conditions under which labour is bought and sold in capitalist society are fundamentally exploitative (Knights and Willmott 1990).

Keywords

Academic Staff Labour Process Quality Audit League Table Quality Assurance Process 
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© Frank Worthington 2007

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  • Frank Worthington

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