Abstract
The period between the late 1940s and the early 1970s represented the apogee of Fordism and a crucial moment of transition in the history of modernity. The term “Fordism” evokes images of fast-moving assembly lines, armies of robotized workers, and standardized products. Diego Rivera’s iconographic interpretation of this system at the Detroit Institute of Arts, based on his observation of Ford’s River Rouge plant, depicts a world of giant, intimidating machines and virile workers engaged in strenuous efforts. However, the consequences of Fordism extended well beyond the factory walls; it reshaped the spatial and demographic configuration of cities; it ignited bouts of economic development, industrial concentration, and social conflict. It finally collapsed, or, rather, was transformed, under the weight of economic changes and social protest.
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Notes
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© 2013 Nicola Pizzolato
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Pizzolato, N. (2013). The Making and Unmaking of Fordism. In: Challenging Global Capitalism. Palgrave Macmillan Transnational History Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137311702_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137311702_2
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