Introduction to Symposium on the Frontiers of Labor Process Theory

Excerpt

Although Karl Marx first conceptualized the labor process in Capital, the explosion of interest in labor process theory (LPT) as an entry point for the study of work did not occur until the last quarter of the 20th century. With the 1974 publication of Harry Braverman’s landmark Labor and Monopoly Capital, Braverman demonstrated how the labor process was crucial to understanding capitalist accumulation and the production of surplus value in the late 20th century. By the late 1970s, LPT had blossomed into a flourishing field with numerous U.S. and British academics both extending and revising Braverman’s theses. Thirty years later, LPT has taken off in numerous directions which were initially unforeseen by the field’s early theorists. Along the way an established international conference and book series emerged which presented (and continues to present) the latest research and theoretical developments in LPT. …