Date of Award
6-2009
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Guillermina Seri
Language
English
Keywords
economics, production, regulation, industrialism, Ford
Abstract
Henry Ford is perhaps one of the most famous of the American entrepreneurs of the 20th century: with the development of the Model T car, he drastically changed the path of the industrial era for the United States and much of the Western world. His managerial model combined the regulation-theory philosophy of Frederick Taylor with the policies of the Keynesian Welfare State to create an industrial automotive powerhouse which dominated the world market for several decades. In many ways, his production model was just as innovative in economics as it was in politics: regulation theory created an entirely new working class identity in the United States, and forever changed the face of worker struggle. Capitalism bounded across the nation and the socialist tendencies of organized workers in the 1920’s has all but disappeared. In the wake of our recent economic collapse and what may be the end of industrialism in America, however, several post-Marxists are posing critical questions about the foundations of our economic model once again. Through case studies of factories in Lorain, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois, I will begin to piece together the effects of Fordism and ask the eternal Leninist question, “What is to Be Done?”
Recommended Citation
Keenan, Meagan Marie, "Fordism and the demise of working class identity in the United States" (2009). Honors Theses. 1328.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1328