Living in a Capitalist Society (Ch. 11) Flashcards
1
Q
McJobs
A
- require little or no skill
- scripted interactions
- routinised actions (de-skilling)
2
Q
McDonaldization
A
American fast food restaurant principles dominating American and global societies
3
Q
Timeline of the capitalist workplace
A
- Taylorism (early industrial manufacturing period)
- Fordism (modern industrial period)
- Public Sector/Union/Labour Power (Golden Years)
- Post-Fordism (present day: crisis of capital, anarchy of production)
4
Q
Taylorism
A
- apply science, technology, and systemization to improve efficiency in the workplace
- labour changes from craftsman production to mass production
- values rationality, work ethic, efficiency, standardization
5
Q
Fordism
A
- giving employees higher wages to encourage higher spending on that company’s goods and encourage loyalty to that company
6
Q
Post-Fordism
A
- decline of real wages (avg. earnings relative to cost of living)
- full employer control in workplace
- lean production
7
Q
lean production
A
- minimal staffing, increase productivity
- precarious/short-term jobs
- no labour rights -> attack on unions
- management by stress (afraid of layoffs/competition)
8
Q
modern work dominated by
A
- capitalist class interests (the need to increase profit)
- influence of transnational corporations (ie. Walmart, McDonald’s, etc.)
- growing intensity of work (unpaid overtime, no benefits, more part-time work, excessive education requirements, attack on unions)
- control by technology (surveillance, web creeping, keyboard tracking, etc.)
- dehumanization (ie. scripted interactions)
9
Q
how to lower labour costs
A
- using machines to eliminate labour
- hiring less people
- having labour done in other countries so it’s cheaper
- hiring illegal immigrants
- hiring vulnerable people (ie. youth, new immigrants) who are okay with lower pay and less hours
10
Q
alienation
A
- consequence of worker industrialization
- separating workers from their labour
- work has no meaning to self
- intra-class hostilities for scarce work
11
Q
today, value of our work is determined by ____ rather than ____
A
status/wages rather than social contibution
12
Q
internal contradictions of capital
A
- monopolization (few companies in sector -> concentrated capital)
- anarchy of production
- crisis of overproduction
- financialization of economy (domination of financial sectors [ie. stocks] that don’t produce goods/services)
- consumer debt/inability to consume
13
Q
internships as exploited labour
A
- industries rely on low-paid or unpaid labour from interns to carry out necessary job duties
- make “experience” a requirement for employment to encourage internships
- ignore unequal power relations (no labour protection, capitalize on young people’s eagerness to work for free, privileges wealthy youth [who are financially stable enough to work at an unpaid job], etc.)
14
Q
how does Walmart embody post-fordism values?
A
- by attacking unions and closing down unionized stores
- prevents workers from advocating for better wages and benefits
15
Q
how does Walmart embody fordist values?
A
- by raising employee salaries to encourage workers to spend more money at Walmart since they’re making more money
- since Walmart employees are typically lower-income, many of them will in fact spend this money at Walmart, because it’s one of the few places they can afford to shop at
