From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society: New Theories of the Contemporary World

In chapter three, the focus switches to the writings on Fordism and Post-fordism. After a review of the debate about the Third Italy, [Krishan Kumar] discusses the important connection between flexible specialization and post-fordism. For Kumar, flexible specialization -- the idea that small-scale craft production based in cooperative networks is a viable alternative to mass production -- is the general theoretical model behind claims about a transition to a post-fordist society. The discussion then switches to the optimistic new times version of post-fordism, a brief encounter with the more pessimistic ideas of the regulation school and their concept of neo-fordism, and finally he wraps up the chapter with some of the most important criticisms which have been levelled against this perspective. Readers who are familiar with an earlier article by Kumar (1992) will find it to be an excellent introduction to much of the material in this and the previous chapter. Second, some readers may find his discussion of the connections between post-fordism, flexible specialization and flexibility a little heavy handed. Kumar collapses some important distinctions between these three streams of writing which others are at pains to preserve (Hirst and [Jonathan Zeitlin], 1991). Finally, while recognizing that this book is not meant to be a test of the three theories, I would have liked a clearer statement at the end about which of them Kumar considers to be the most useful or illuminating at present. But these are minor quibbles. Kumar has done a superior job of presenting a vast range of complex ideas in an articulate and thoughtful manner. This book will take its place beside Prophecy and Progress as essential reading for many years to come.