231
He notes that control of the daily
round of activities involved in clerical
work—including bookkeeping,
scheduling, and the responsibility
that ensues from this—have been
degraded to endless paper-chasing,
photocopying, and other menial
tasks. He also observes that
because—at the time he was
writing—office workers in Britain
and the US were typically female,
they could be paid less, which
in turn reduces costs and
maximizes profit.
Expertise diminished
Labor and Monopoly Capital is
considered a classic contribution
to the discipline of sociology,
but it is the only academic book
that Braverman ever wrote. The
book’s influence on the application
of critical Marxist thinking to the
empirical study of industrial work
has been profound. Like Marx,
Braverman never held a university
post and it is perhaps for this very
reason that he was able, without
fear of censorship, to write such
a penetrating and biting critique
of the injustices of industrial
capitalism and their impact on
the majority of the workforce.
While Braverman was not the
first or only thinker to identify and
denounce the relationship between
automation and de-skilling, his
work was crucial for revitalizing
the analysis of work across a broad
range of disciplines, including
history, economics, and political
science. Since the publication of
Labor and Monopoly Capital,
Braverman’s ideas have continued
to generate debate among
sociologists of work. Writing in
1979, US sociologist Michael
Burawoy was strongly supportive
of Braverman’s work, as was US
sociologist Michael Cooley in his
study of computer-aided design.
While the conviction with
which Braverman presented his
arguments has led to criticism
from some quarters (in the work
of Robert Blauner, for example),
his central ideas have survived
and been carried forward
in the work of Manuel Castells,
the highly influential Spanish
sociologist of globalization and
the network society. ■WORK AND CONSUMERISM
Harry Braverman
Harry Braverman was
born in 1920 in New York to
Polish-Jewish émigré parents.
He attended college for one
year before leaving for
financial reasons. He later
worked as an apprentice
coppersmith in Brooklyn,
where he developed a
powerful insight into the
effects of science-based
technology on the “de-
skilling” of the working class.
Deeply affected by his
experience, Braverman joined
the Socialist Workers Party
(SWP) and absorbed himself
in the work of Marx and
other socialist thinkers of
the period. In 1953 he was
expelled from the SWP, and
went on to found the Socialist
Union and to become editor
of The American Socialist.
In 1963 Braverman finally
completed a BA from the New
School of Social Research.Key works1974 Labor and Monopoly
Capital: The Degradation
of Work in the Twentieth
CenturyMarxism is not hostile
to science and technology...
but to how they are used as
weapons of domination.
Harry BravermanFemale typists at a mail-order firm
in 1912. By the early 20th century the
profession of clerk had given way to
large-scale, efficiently arranged, and
scientifically managed offices.