Convergence, the institutional turn and workplace regimes
The case of lean production
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11948895 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tod D Rutherford (Syracuse University), Tod Rutherford (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 425-446 |
| Publication date | 2004-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Progress in Human Geography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0309-1325 • E-ISSN: 1477-0288 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1191/0309132504ph496oa |
| OpenAlex | W2035756158 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 73 |
The principal focus in this paper is a sympathetic critique of the institutional turn in economic geography and its analysis of convergence in contemporary capitalism. While insightful, this perspective does not fully capture the dynamic and contradictions of capitalist development and has tended to neglect the role of labor-capital relations in how systems of work organization develop. Following Jessop (1999; 2001), I argue that macroeconomic competition driven by the law of value disrupts institutions and acts as a ‘disembedding’ force for convergence within capitalism. In the workplace these tendencies are mediated by labor's ability to resist capital through what Burawoy (1985) terms the production politics of workplace regimes. I then illustrate these general points via an analysis of lean production in the automobile industry. Lean production is associated with strong convergence tendencies, because TNC reorganization facilitates the increased comparability of work quality and intensity across space. However, drawing upon the research of Lewchuck et al. (2001) and others on lean production and workers in Canada, the UK and Germany, I argue that, while national regimes are declining relative to firm-specific ones, workplace regimes continue to be an active force for divergence
Capital (architecture · Capitalism · Convergence (economics · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Lean manufacturing · Microeconomics · Political science · Politics · Production (economics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis
The Transnational Capitalist Class
Stock Market Capitalism
National Labour Relations in Internationalized Markets
Contemporary Capitalism
Postindustrial Possibilities
The Associational Economy
Localised learning and industrial competitiveness
North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality
Globalization, unemployment and ‘social exclusion’ in Europe
Varieties of Capitalism
Beyond 'employability'
National Diversity and Global Capitalism
Cultural economic geography and a relational and microspace approach to trusts, rationalities, networks, and change in collaborative workplaces
The dynamics of Asian business systems in a globalizing era
Internationalization and varieties of capitalism
The Free Trade Agreement—A Decade Later
Quality of working life in the automobile industry
Leaning on lean
Is Globalisation All it is Cracked Up to Be
Trade Union Strategy and Teamwork
Unions and Economic Competitiveness
Local Labour Control Regimes
Regional Employment Evolutions in the European Union
Organizing European Labour
Global finance and the German model
Labour in ‘lean’ times
Changing industrial production systems and regional development in the New Europe
Putting capital in its place
The Employment Relation and Spatial Division of Labor
The Internationalization of Industrial Relations in Europe
National structures and multinational corporate behavior
For a Critical Cultural Political Economy
Best practice? Geography, learning and the institutional limits to strong convergence
An Institutionalist Perspective on Regional Economic Development
Are Your Wages Set in Beijing
Globalisation
From 'Sitting by Nellie' to the Classroom Factory? The Restructuring of Skills, Recruitment and Training in a South Wales Motor Components Plant
The Transnational Corporate Networks of Breakfast Cereals in Asia
Institutional Re(turns) and the Strategic - Relational Approach
The Rescaling of Labour Regulation in Germany
"Still in Training?" Labor Unions and the Restructuring of Canadian Labor Market Policy
Why Do National Labor Market Practices Continue to Diverge in the Global Economy? The "Missing Link" of Investment Rules
GM Suicide
Slow Convergence? The New Endogenous Growth Theory and Regional Development
The 'New Economic Sociology
Facing the Market
Against lean production
The effects of convergence
Shareholder value in an adverse environment
From shareholder value to present-day capitalism
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,21 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |