Labour Time, Work Measurement and the Commensuration of Labour

Bibliographic Data

ID4826240
AuthorsPhil Taylor (0000-0001-8842-5350, corresponding author), P S Taylor (0009-0002-3821-6029)
Year1979
Volume3
Issue3
Pages23-37
Publication date1979-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCapital & Class (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8168 • E-ISSN: 2041-0980
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/030981687900900102
OpenAlexW2138316984
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

Managerial work study directed at the intensification of labour character-ises specifically capitalist production. According to the British Institute of Management standard textbook, 'work study ' consists of procedures for 'method study ' and 'work measurement ' which "can be used in any situ-ation where human work is performed " (Currie, 1977, p. 48). Do such procedures provide the basis for a socialist organisation of production? Th That is, do such procedures, in effect if not intent, provide a 'socialist form of commensuration of labour'? Sohn-Rethel (1) has argued that "the mode of commensurating labour * by the social exchange process which characterizes capitalist produc-tion " and the mode of commensuration initiated by F. W. Taylor ("The Father of Scientific Management " [Currie, 1977, p. 211) "are diametrical opposites to each other in every vital characteristic " (Sohn-Rethel, 1978, pp. 166-172). How does Sohn-Rethel arrive at this representation of the "Taylorian mode of commensurating labour"? The essential feature of Taylor's scheme is, for Sohn-Rethel, "his method of accurate and scientific study of unit times", which was declared by Taylor to be "by far the most important element in scientific management". And, "Taylor's aims in ana-lysing manual operations were, in the first place, to find out how the studied operation can be done with least waste of time and minimal effort and fatigue; then to norm the operation as a composite of strictly repeti-tive and standard parts; to reduce these parts to the smallest particles or 'units ' of motion, assumed to be homogeneous in all manual operations; to time these units with the precision of fractions of a second; finally to use these 'unit times ' as a foundation of the job evaluation for fixing correct wage and bonus rates " (Sohn-Rethel, 1978, p. 170). This representation Sohn-Rethel derives principally from Taylor's "The Art of Cutting Metals", but a somewhat divergent representation may be derived from Taylor's "A Piece Rate System, being a step toward partial solution of the labor prob

Economics · Labour economics · Precarious work · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions

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