The Sociology Book

244

S P O N T A N E O U S

C O N S E N T C O M B I N E S

W I T H C O E R C I O N

MICHAEL BURAWOY (1947– )

W

hy workers in the

capitalist system work

as hard as they do and

how the interests of workers and

management are negotiated are

issues that Anglo-American

sociologist Michael Burawoy

analyses from within a Marxist

theoretical framework. From this

perspective, the interests of labor

and capital are seen as being in

fundamental opposition; Burawoy

Management pacifies workers with the illusion of choice

by playing workplace “games,” such as...

Workers play along with these “games” in order to establish

consensual workplace relations.

Consent combines with coercion to ensure

workers are controlled.

...“collective

bargaining” that

co-opts rather

than alienates

workers.

...an internal

job market that

reduces conflict

by enabling

mobility.

...a “piece-rate

pay system” in

which workers

compete

to increase

production.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Manufacturing consent

KEY DATES

1979 The effects of the global

oil recession impact on US

manufacturing industries,

causing tension between

workers and management.

1981 British sociologist

Anthony Giddens refers

to Michael Burawoy’s book,

Manufacturing Consent:

Changes in the Labor

Process Under Monopoly

Capitalism, as “one of the

most significant contributions

to industrial sociology.”

1998 In “Manufacturing

Dissent? Burawoy in a Franco-

Japanese Workshop,” French

sociologist Jean-Pierre Durand

and British sociologist Paul

Stewart apply Burawoy’s

concept of manufacturing

consent to a Nissan

automobile plant.