Smith, Andrew, Tennent, Kevin Daniel orcid.org/0000-0003-1952-5969 and Russell, Jason (2019) The rejection of industrial democracy by Berle and Means and the emergence of the ideology of managerialism. Economic and Industrial Democracy. pp. 1-25. ISSN 0143-831X
Abstract
One distinctive feature of the American variant of capitalism is the near absence of any of the industrial democracy institutions found in many European firms. This article examines ideology as a factor behind the absence of industrial democracy institutions in the United States. It focuses on the early 1930s, when the ideology of managerialism was being formulated by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means, the authors of a book that had a well-documented influence on American business culture. As the article shows, many American firms in the 1910s and 1920s experimented with worker representation systems that contemporaries called industrial democracy. Berle and Means were aware of these moves to democratize the American workplace, but they rejected all forms of industrial democracy. The article advances an explanation for their rejection and thereby contributes to our understanding why the United States did not take the path towards democracy within companies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > The York Management School |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 05 May 2020 09:20 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:18 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X19883683 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0143831X19883683 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:160203 |
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Description: The Rejection of Industrial Democracy by Berle and Means and the Emergence of the Ideology of Managerialism for production process 30 September 2019