ABSTRACT
According to Janowitz, the classical use of the term 'social control' referred to the capacity of a social group to regulate itself according to desired principles and values. To Marx the conflict between the classes over the control of the means of production is fundamental to the development of society and the process of social change. Social control can be exerted in different ideological forms from repression to the pure liberal individualism so common in the early twentieth century, which supposed that the free rational and non-dependent person would choose something very like capitalism in one of its many forms, given an unfettered choice. The chapter explores how employers view welfare in relation to this idea of social control. Over the period 1880 to the 1920s, it has been argued that employers were able to influence social policy to an increasing extent.
