Labor And Monopoly Capital (25th)

This widely acclaimed book, first published in 1974, was a classic from its first day in print. Written in a direct, inviting way by Harry Braverman, whose years as an industrial worker gave him rich personal insight into work, Labor and Monopoly Capital overturned the reigning ideologies of academic sociology.

This new edition features an introduction by John Bellamy Foster that sets the work in historical and theoretical context, as well as two rare articles by Braverman, "The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century" (1975) and "Two Comments" (1976), that add much to our understanding of the book.

Customer Reviews:

Updating labor theory for the age of high technology

By David A. Beaton - February 21, 2000

Labor and Monopoly Power, by Harry Braverman, brings basic Marxist labor theory up to date for the modern age. Though written 25 years ago, Braverman's work is the ideal guideline to understanding the age of information technology. Braverman expertly explodes the smug myths of "knowledge age" boosters by drawing the parallels to earlier industrial technology. The major misapprehension exploded is the one that says workplace automation demands higher skills and upgrades jobs. Braverman, through developing and applying the ideas not only of Marx, but of management proponents such as Babbage, Taylor and Bright, makes a convincing case for the opposite. Computers, like other technology before them, are being applied in ways that expose two objectives: (1) the reduction of the absolute numbers of workers, and (2) the reduction of skills among the remaining workers. Braverman's 1974 book was prophetic in that it described longstanding capitalist relationships... read more

Finest book on economics from the last half of the 20th century

By left hook - October 8, 2007

The finest book on economics from the last half of the 20th century. No one should claim they understand capitalism if they can't address the fundamental points of this book. It shows Why Labor Matters--and how suppressing the social and political power of labor makes the system work.

a classic analysis of what capitalism does to work

By disidente "disidente" - July 16, 2007

This is a very detailed study, written by a writer who had been a skilled craft worker earlier in his life, not an academic. The book provides a good theoretical understanding of the way the logic of capitalist development degrades work. Through his discussion of Taylorism, aka "scientific management," Braverman shows how the breaking up of work into tasks and then re-defining the jobs is used to concentrate the conceptual and decision-making control into a hierarchy, and the control of workers is thus diminished. Capitalists will tend to do this because it strengthens their bargaining clout in dealing with workers.

But this is not a "technological determinist" argument. On the contrary, in his intro Braverman criticizes technological determinism. Rather, it is a particular social system, particular class interests, that shape decisions about what techniques are used in production. Technology is not neutral or independent of who controls it.

The alternative,... read more

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