The Sociology Book

230 HARRY BRAVERMAN

What Braverman means by the
degradation of work is the decline
in the number of jobs that require
a worker to conceptualize and
execute a task. He argues the
workforce has been reorganized
into a mass of workers, whose jobs
require little conceptualization,
and a smaller number of managers.

The rise of management
Influenced by the work of US
engineer and industrialist Frederick
Taylor, who had developed a theory
of scientific management and
workflows, Braverman argues
that three novel and significant
developments have accelerated
and accentuated the de-skilling
of the labor force.
First, knowledge and
information of the entire labor
process is known only to, and
closely controlled by, management
and not the workers. Second,
and as a direct result of the first
development, the worker performs
his set task in the total division of
labor on a “need-to-know” basis.
Workers are kept completely in
the dark about the impact of the
tasks they perform and about
the role these tasks play in the

overall labor process. Third,

empowered by knowledge of the

total labor process, management is

able to control in highly exacting

ways what it is that each individual

worker does. Careful monitoring

and regulation of productivity levels

means that management is able

to intervene whenever productivity

is perceived to be dipping, or

whenever a worker can be shown

to be underperforming.

Braverman argues that the

ultimate negative consequence

of organizing work in a manner

that above all else emphasizes

ef fi c ienc y, c a lc u l a bi l it y, a nd

productivity is the separating out

of what Braverman refers to as

“conception” from “execution.”

Invoking a biological metaphor,

Braverman states that the workers

are like a hand, whose every move

is controlled, supervised, and

corrected by the distant brain

of management.

The cold logic of capitalism

As the total range of skills

possessed by workers diminishes

over time, so in turn their value

decreases. Workers can be paid less

because the tasks they perform are

increasingly menial and unskilled.

Robbed of their expertise, they

are more dispensable and, crucially,

interchangeable. For Braverman,

the cruel and unforgiving logic of

the capitalist system inextricably

ties his analysis to the concept of

social class. The deconstruction

of craftsmanship among the labor

force works to ensure that entire

sections of the population are

prevented from climbing the

social hierarchy.

Braverman’s study focuses

primarily on industrial factory

work but his attention also turns

to the de-skilling of office workers.

The alienation of the worker

presents itself to management

as [a] problem in costs

and controls.

Harry Braverman

In Braverman’s metaphor,
managers are the brain and
workers the hand of all-seeing
management in the workplace.
When labor is organized
to maximize efficiency,
productivity, and profit,
there is a negative outcome
for the workers. Braverman
attributed this to the rise
of management, which
now observed, monitored,
controlled, and regulated
every action of the workforce.
The effects of technology
were first felt in factories;
today, even retail outlets
are supervised by distant,
centralized head offices.

“Execution”:

workers are asked

to perform mundane

tasks; they are kept

ignorant of all other

aspects of work.

“Conception”:

knowledge and

information about

the overall labor

process is held by

management alone.