ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that realistic assertions about the future of industrial work can only be made if social and economic meso- and macro-structures and their historical development are taken into account. European Taylorism is seen as the result of specific conditions and constellations existing in post-war Europe. The picture so courageously sketched by Kern and Schumann of a new generalizable post-Tayloristic rationalization pattern has not taken on more precise contours or stability in the light of developments in the last years and intensive research on the subject. The diversity of the observations and expected trends must be understood as a fundamental characteristic of the historical situation in which the advanced industrial nations presently find themselves. The chapter examines that realistic assertions about the future of industrial work can only be the starting point of research which combines the macro-conditions of technology and work, and the historical processes that have been generated and changed by these macro-conditions.
