Manufacturing dissent: Braverman, Burawoy, Clarke

The paper reviews some ideas of Harry Braverman, Michael Burawoy, and Simon Clarke in light of findings of semi-structured interviews conducted at the site of a Russian industrial enterprise. The evidence supports Burawoy’s vision of labour as game-like activity spontaneously propping the shop floor cooperation and productivity. The findings also suggest that informal workplace bargaining rationalizes industrial relations and governance, while the top-management attempts to subdue work and workplace relations to meticulous and redundant bureaucratic control may lead to productivity failures, dismantle workplace arrangements, and undermine shop floor cooperation.