"The Deskilling Controversy"

by Attewell, Paul (1987)

Abstract

The thesis that capitalism continues to degrade and deskill work in the twentieth century, creating an ever more unskilled proletariat, has been forcefully argued by Harry Braverman and his colleagues. In this article I present a series of theoretical, empirical, and methodological criticisms of the deskilling position, drawing upon a diverse literature, and upon original research. Particular attention is given to the application of the deskilling thesis to contemporary trends in the computerization of clerical work, as a way of highlighting methodological weaknesses in the deskilling approach.

Keywords

Skills, Deskilling, Understanding, Education, Knowledge, Training

Themes

Skills, Labour Process

Links to Reference

• https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888487014003001
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0730888487014003001
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0730888487014003001?casa_token=Ds_MdVc88EQAAAAA:Ma873YGaOKTyed4Q_I2bUfrWVSHStZKIlOqZJuJ8DpvSTTxn-tiXUM6IHIxVw-0i2XCGKO0h8X4CFQ
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0730888487014003001?casa_token=r9bpwRBJIt4AAAAA:Lg1FZMPG5szjVJPZ-r22oWA78ejjevD7ogv9h_J7ITFJVsUZaogxDKyY0T8b8Qyayy02IVbd6aAj3A

Citation

Share

How to contribute.