EUR  â¬186.00EUR  â¬155.00 excl. VAT
Driving Productivity
Automation, Labor, and Industrial Development in the United States and Germany
Series: - Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 331
Author:
Driving Productivity reconstructs the industrial histories of the American and German automotive industries in a new light. From the Fordist assembly line to Japanese lean production and Industry 4.0, Anthony J. Knowles critically examines major technical developments within the historical dynamics of capitalism. Both countries face the pressure to automate, transform labor, and increase efficiency, yet their responses differ due to divergent paradigms of integrating business, labor, and government. Driving Productivity makes the case that improving productivity is a never-ending process that becomes a compulsory social imperative that industries must respond to but are nevertheless responded to differently between countries.
Anthony J. Knowles, Ph.D. (2023, University of Tennessee-Knoxville), is Teaching Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee. His research pertains to the social and economic effects of technologies. His most recent publication "The Artificiality of Digital Scarcity" (Fast Capitalism 21(1), 2024) theorizes how online filesharing generates a "crisis of value" for media industries.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction: the Social Dynamics of Productivity, Automation, and Technological Displacement
â1âLimits and Dynamics of Socioeconomic Transformation
â2âCapital as Value in Motion among Value-Regimes
â3âProduction under Productivity Pressure
â4âTransformations of Production over the Longue Durée
1 Fork in the Road: between Craft and Mass Production in the Early 20th Century
â1âThe Industrial Revolution and the Prehistory of the Automobile
â2âThe Automotive Idea and the Genesis of the Auto Industry
â3âEarliest Craft Production Systems in the United States and Germany
â4âFordist Mass Production and German âMass-Craft Productionâ
â5âGrowth, Maturation, and Rationalization in the 1920s
â6âEvaluating Outcomes of Craft and Mass Production
2 State Guided Rationalization Through Depression and World War
â1âThe Great Depression and World War Transforms Industry
â2âGerman âModernizationâ and Motorization during the Third Reich
â3âThe Great Depression and Unionization
â4âThe Arsenal of Democracy vs the Arsenal of Fascism
â5âPostwar Reconstruction and Reconfiguration
â6âFordist Transformations between Depression and War
3 Prosperity or Automation Hysteria? Contradictions of Growth, Productivity, and Mechanization in the Postwar Decades
â1âPostwar Growth and the Economic Miracle
â2âTransfer Machine Automation in the US and Germany
â3âThe Great Automation Debate
â4âPursuing Competitive Advantage: Combative vs Cooperative Industrial Relations
â5âConvergent Automation, Divergent Industrial Relations
4 Productivity Gaps as Competitive Crisis: between Automation, Quality, and Lean Production in the 1970sâ1990s
â1âTripartite Competition in a Stagnant Era
â2âLean Production as Japanese Challenge
â3âAutomation âLeapfrogâ and Productivity Strategies in the US
â4âThe Rise and Fall of the German Quality Production System
â5âProductivity Trumps Automation
5 Globalization and the Race for Productivity
â1âProductivity Pressure in the Age of Globalization
â2âProductivity Convergence and Divergence in the 21st Century
â3âGlobalization and Opportunities for Growth
â4âElectric Vehicles, Industry 4.0, and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Productivity
â5âGlobal Generalization and General Globalization
6 Productivity as Social Imperativeâtowards a Critical Theory of Automation, Technological Displacement, and Social Domination
â1âThe Drivers of History
â2âProductivity Pressure as Social Domination
â3âCommunication and the Social Logic of Capital
â4âConvergence and Divergence of Productive Systems
â5âMediations and Limitations
â6âPolitical Implications
â7âConclusion
Archival Bibliography
Bibliography
Index
Abbreviations
Introduction: the Social Dynamics of Productivity, Automation, and Technological Displacement
â1âLimits and Dynamics of Socioeconomic Transformation
â2âCapital as Value in Motion among Value-Regimes
â3âProduction under Productivity Pressure
â4âTransformations of Production over the Longue Durée
1 Fork in the Road: between Craft and Mass Production in the Early 20th Century
â1âThe Industrial Revolution and the Prehistory of the Automobile
â2âThe Automotive Idea and the Genesis of the Auto Industry
â3âEarliest Craft Production Systems in the United States and Germany
â4âFordist Mass Production and German âMass-Craft Productionâ
â5âGrowth, Maturation, and Rationalization in the 1920s
â6âEvaluating Outcomes of Craft and Mass Production
2 State Guided Rationalization Through Depression and World War
â1âThe Great Depression and World War Transforms Industry
â2âGerman âModernizationâ and Motorization during the Third Reich
â3âThe Great Depression and Unionization
â4âThe Arsenal of Democracy vs the Arsenal of Fascism
â5âPostwar Reconstruction and Reconfiguration
â6âFordist Transformations between Depression and War
3 Prosperity or Automation Hysteria? Contradictions of Growth, Productivity, and Mechanization in the Postwar Decades
â1âPostwar Growth and the Economic Miracle
â2âTransfer Machine Automation in the US and Germany
â3âThe Great Automation Debate
â4âPursuing Competitive Advantage: Combative vs Cooperative Industrial Relations
â5âConvergent Automation, Divergent Industrial Relations
4 Productivity Gaps as Competitive Crisis: between Automation, Quality, and Lean Production in the 1970sâ1990s
â1âTripartite Competition in a Stagnant Era
â2âLean Production as Japanese Challenge
â3âAutomation âLeapfrogâ and Productivity Strategies in the US
â4âThe Rise and Fall of the German Quality Production System
â5âProductivity Trumps Automation
5 Globalization and the Race for Productivity
â1âProductivity Pressure in the Age of Globalization
â2âProductivity Convergence and Divergence in the 21st Century
â3âGlobalization and Opportunities for Growth
â4âElectric Vehicles, Industry 4.0, and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Productivity
â5âGlobal Generalization and General Globalization
6 Productivity as Social Imperativeâtowards a Critical Theory of Automation, Technological Displacement, and Social Domination
â1âThe Drivers of History
â2âProductivity Pressure as Social Domination
â3âCommunication and the Social Logic of Capital
â4âConvergence and Divergence of Productive Systems
â5âMediations and Limitations
â6âPolitical Implications
â7âConclusion
Archival Bibliography
Bibliography
Index
This volume will be of particular interest to sociologists and sociology students, Marxian scholars, industrial sociologists, university librarians and libraries, critical theorists and social scientists, technology and/or automobile enthusiasts, labor unions, global studies scholars and students, futurists, and historians.