SENSING POST-FORDIST WORK LIFE Recent Perspectives in the Ethnography of Work

Abstract

The article discusses the transition from Fordism to post-Fordism in the world of work and at the same time pleads for a critical reflection on the use of these concepts. It presents three German case studies conducted under the supervision of the author, which examine how this transition is experienced very differently: by mothers using managerial techniques of parenting, independent financial advisers, and manual workers in a picture-frame factory. The mothers see the changes as a challenge, the financial advisers as an opportunity, and the manual workers as a threat. Thus, ethnographic case studies in this field highlighting the diversity of work in the post-Fordist era enbable us to go beyond discourses that treat Fordism and post-Fordism as clearly separated andholistic entities.