The Essence of the Work of Harry Braverman - Research Paper Example

The recent changes in organizational form and personnel strategies have marked the final break with the "degradation of work" Introduction The essence of the work of Harry Braverman The contribution of Braverman to the understanding of labor process is worth the appreciation it has achieved since its very acceptance as a worthy work. Harry Braverman is the author of the book Labor and Monopoly Capital (1974) (Braverman, 1974). The book holds a unique value for acceptance by the academicians. It adds knowledge to the understanding of various fields such as sociology, economics, political science, history, and human geography. The book holds the reputation of being one of the fifty most crucial studies produced in the third quarter of the twentieth century (Wald, 1987). The pioneering work of Harry Braverman in Labor and Monopoly Capital is worth the area of attention and appreciation to understand the past working condition, the working environment, and the unethical commodities therein. Harry Braverman has described with great intelligence and ability the division of labor and mechanization in his competent writings. Braverman believed in the presence of disorder in the management of labor and attributed this feature to the then existence of machines. His writings were bold and addressed the society as whole. Though his writings were produced during his living in USA, they held applicability to people from different regions and areas of living. It could wisely address the then prevailing conditions even in the other countries including India, South Africa, and United Kingdom. Application of Braverman's brave work in the tough past time In past times, the complete thrust of capitalism was to weaken the base of humanity. One could find a place in workplace, after having sold his/her labor power and creative ability to the capitalists who viewed it as their own property. The sorrow touched the human working form with the exposure to the fact that the ability to work and create was being considered on par with the other means of production. The truth is that to the most capitalist, labor was the cost of production. And the capitalist therefore aimed to minimize this cost of production then no matter what harm or loss it inflicted on the working people. Though true, it really takes a pain inflicting approach to agree to its prominent and irrational existence. The capitalists further aggravated the then existent condition of degradation of labor by imposing the evil effect by indirect means to the workers. The workers could do little, if at all to beat this deadly approach towards their work and creativity. It seemed as if the goodness of man had been sold to a rich hand. Harry Braverman in his intellectual writings exposed naked the ugliness of the then existent capitalism. He pointed out with authentic understanding and examples that the focus of capitalist management is control over the workers. The first step of the capitalist to get the workers into the factories, and then the dirty game takes its grip by watching the workers with an aim for dividing them. The divided workers stand not in unity even to achieve their most essential goal. The condition faces further grief from the machines that threaten them with redundancy. The focus of fight of the workers rested on the objective of winning higher wages and benefits, while yielding to employers the complete right to control the workplace. This was called as "accord" between labor and capital. This "accord" held its own existent limitations for survival and progress. The "accord" acted as an insufficient basis of fighting the class struggles. The prominent reason that resulted in the failure of "accord" was a definite limit on wage increase that was placed and it found its existence even in the periods of rapid capital accumulation. Absence of present applicability of Braverman's brave work in the pleasant present time Labor power or labor force is an important concept brought to practice by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. He viewed labour power as the most crucial of all productive forces. He presents in capitalism the "productive powers of labour" as the creative power of capital. One of the Marxist views on information technology has been presented by Harry Braverman. And it is to analyze and examine the manner in which technology is deployed to aid capital against labor, through surveillance and transferring knowledge from labor to machinery. Braverman revealed the fact that managerial strategies are twisted in several ways in attempt to achieve the best result from the labor at a lower cost. The practice of control over the skills was presented as one of the essential mode of action in the control of wages. The steps that enforce the presence of force in the existent sector of labor are not invisible. The need of capital accumulation results in the absolute control of wages. Braverman cites Babbage who, in his writings (1832) outlined the principle of modern management. He also holds the credibility of developing the theory for the first computer. Babbage pointed that the division of the work into different processes each necessitating difference in degree of skill can be beneficial in the purchase of exact quantity. However, if the whole of the process shall be answered by the efficiency of work of one individual then that individual is required to perform the most difficult task, into this art is divided. Today, the information systems setup has its base on the divisions of labor that were previously there. Both Babbage and Taylor presented the necessity of industrial capital. They stated that it was as if dividing "head from hands" and separating tasks so that repetition would increase the speed of work and thereby decrease costs. The essential thing in it was that today the division in work can be reintegrated into new labor processes. For example, we may consider the advanced technology, internet and the intranet. It should also be noted that the present division and reintegration of tasks has its firm base of existence on well-defined and well-designed work processes. As we know, that the intranet can be used in specific by the people of a specific pharmaceutical company while the internet can be set for connection amongst different pharmaceutical companies and also with people of other sectors. The reintegration of work can be recombined into a more global division of labor. Also, the control and co-ordination of redistributed work can be connected through Internet or other efficient infrastructure or technology. The writing of Harry Braverman date back to 1970s when the advancement in the sector of management and technology was not as significant as it is today. That was the time when the computer functioning was slow and not very efficient. During the 1980s, the concept and practice of "paperless offices" and computers took birth. It was the beginning of better management skills and more efficient labor force assignation to essential tasks. The computer had been reputed with the tag of "personal" which reflected its greater efficiency to manage. What Braverman stated regarded the process can be summarized as follows: Machinery offers the option of doing the task that was first accomplished by organizational and disciplinary means. The fact that several machines can be made to work in speed and control as set by the centralized decision makers, and that these controls can be in the hands of the management, removed from the area of the production to the office- these technical options are of as just as great interest to the management as the fact that the machines greatly increases the labor productivity. Today, the usage of words that lead to efficient communication in industry are "knowledge" worker, "high-tech" work and "flexible" work. If we replace the word machinery as used by Braverman in connection with the objects that help recruit and divide labor with these current used terminologies, we address a better picture of present. We may state that the Information Age has met a period of refinement for the good. Today, it is no more the prevalent the practice of forcing skilled craftsmen into unqualified and fragmented factory work. It is now increasingly raising the capital's influence through mechanization into society at large and to ever-higher levels of intellectual labor. This era of development for good has been rightly described by Robins and Webster as 'Social Taylorism'. They present their argument on the base that the gathering of skill, hitherto most apparent in the capitalist labor process, is now entering a new and more pervasive stage. They present their talk in connection with the past practiced process of social deskilling, the depredation of knowledge and skills, which were then sold back in the form of commodities. It has been wisely presented by Stallabrass that falling costs is met with increased capacity of computers for a sustained price, and therefore that new computers will never touch the poor majority. However, it does not succeed to acknowledge the increase in number of perfectly operational but out-dated, second-hand computers that will experience a persistent loss. Dyer-Witheford has stated that technologies are many times constituted by contending pressure that implant in them contradictory potentialities: which of these are realized is that which will be determined only in further struggle and conflict. Today, technology is presented in 'black boxes', such that the workers are not influenced by the activities that the machinery forces on them. Thus, this prevents the disturbance imposed on the worker and the consideration of the worker as a production commodity. We might further argue that the increased usage of advanced technology and more intellectual means of practice at managerial level have erased the stigma associated with the control of labor by unethical means. We may say that the Braverman's degradation of work no more stands as a persistent practice in the present working areas. Though outdated, in the present context it certainly provides a good base for study of the past existent industrial practices. It also gives a ground of comparison for the past and present industrial principles and practices. We should be proud of the improvement which we have collectively developed over the past years. This has provided a reason for "flourishing of work" rather than the preexistent "degradation of work". We need to acknowledge the usage of advanced machinery in the form of computers and technology that has helped us stand in the present situation. Thus, we may say that the applicability of Braverman's famous thesis on degradation of work has no existence of applicability in the present context of positive development and innovation. Also, the placement of workers as per their efficiency has denied the acceptance of Braveman's concepts to great extremes. The findings of the recent studies- deny the applicability of Braverman's work in the present context On critical examination of the views of Braverman, its application in the current context has been seen to be fading. The view presented in his famous thesis on degradation of work under capitalism states the approach of division in labor groups so as to maximize capitalization and minimize wages does not find absolute relevance in the current adopted strategies. The approach of division based on the objective of producing more specialized tasks as a process of mechanization does not again support. On the contrary, several recent studies have pointed the presence of concrete barriers against degradation. For example, in the field of pharmaceutical sciences, there is continued production of therapeutics in a platform that rests on a completely divided workforce. However, this assures better quality by virtue of greater productivity attributes to the ascribed groups in specific tasks. Thus, the well-designed and better-governed division in the field of pharmaceutical companies has proved to be of benefit. The studies of the process of labour make an inclination to the past days as well (Jansson, 1990). The Sweden iron industry's increasing interest in the proper division of work has resulted in the addition and attribution of work to the women. Also, the scientific examination of transfer of technology from abroad has provided new insights into the adaptability of the iron industry (Adamson, 1991). Thus, the recent studies of the present existent situation in the industries have pointed a positive opinion about the existent labor conditions. It has additionally helped to prove the recruitment of labor as per their skill level, information value and knowledge base. Though only a few studies have been reported here, the actual number of studies that hold existence in the proposed context are numerous and from various regions, countries and sectors. A great number of well-designed similar studies have been conducted in UK and USA and have projected similar beneficial and improved positioning of the labor force. These studies mark the acceptance of Braverman's degradation of work as a pessimistic approach in relation to the present context. Conclusion The negative opinion about the information technology as a tool of capitalist control, shared by many Marxists has been denied with confidence. The mouldability or malleability exhibited as a chief characteristic of new technology promotes the worker with autonomy of its usage. We may state that the personal computers with its advanced abilities shower capabilities to its users. We may conclude that at present the workers are divided on the basis of their essential positive attributes and are assigned to the specific jobs as per their talent. Today, the skilled man enjoys a skilled work as a laborer. Enforcement in the working place has faded to extremes. And technology and computers specifically "personal" computers have helped achieve a better today. One can no longer hold a pessimistic opinion to the employers. One can sought and achieve the desired and deserved position in work. Thus, the concept of degradation of work as proposed by Braverman fails to find a roof in the present context. We may say that an ultimate break with the Braverman's degradation of work has been experienced by the present day. Its applicability has thus degenerated below the pressure of progressive advancement seen in the recent times. The organizational form and personnel strategies have succeeded in causing the ultimate failure of existence of Braverman's "degradation of work" However, it should be considered that the inapplicability of Braverman's work to the present context in no ways lower its application and existence in practice in the past history. The knowledge and understanding of Braverman's work can therefore be considered as an essential addition to the academic course. Though unaccepted in various institutes for the existent creditability in academics, it has now been included as an essential area of study for the students. It should also be considered the progress made from the age of Braverman to the present day also promotes the idea and desire of further enhancement in the dealing mechanisms and basis with the labor force. References 1. Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York and London: Monthly Review Press. 2. Wald, A. M. (1987). The New York Intellectuals: The Rise and Decline of the Anti-Stalinist Left from the 1930s to the 1980s. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press. 3. Jansson, Jan-Olov, Arbetsorganisationen vid Motala verkstad 1822-1843: den engelska tiden. (1990). Work and Workers in the Early Swedish Mechanical Engineering Industry - the Case of Motala verkstad. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 4. Adamson, R. (1991). Borrowing and Adaptation of British technology by the Swedish Iron Industry in the Early Nineteenth Century. In Bruland, K, (Eds.), Technology Transfer and Scandinavian Industrialisation. (pp 95-133) New York and Oxford: Berg. Read More