Privatizing Poland Baby Food Big Business and the Remaking of Labor Review
192 SEER, 84, I, 2006 interviewsrepeatedly over the years can only provide part of the story.To be fair, they do representmost points of the compass in the loonshit of formalized ecology politics, as one would expect from Fagan's bipolar (POSRMT ) analytical universe, but the volume'due south claim to be a 'definitive account' that challenges 'some of the certainties of social movement theory' does not include the emergence of less formalizedmovement actorswith more various objectives. Reliance on POS-RMT resultsin an overly 'structuralist'account, with the groups he studies seemingly reduced to mere pawns of external funders, notably the EU. Whilst elements of this analysisring truthful, information technology implicitlydenies autonomy and agency on the partof the groupsthemselves.And where do the radical, non-formalized groups, whose sites of contestation lie elsewhere, fit into the picture? Again reference to other theory and work in this area is notablyabsent,equally iscomparisonwithmany in-depth analysesfromotherpostsocialistcountries . Finally,the degreeof editorialinconsistency(andsometimesobviouserrors) likewise often detracts from all the valuable material and insights that this book undoubtedly contains. Leaving word-weary authors improperly exposed in thisway does not reflectwell on publishers.Forthe time being, therefore,this book fills an obvious gap in the literature.In time, a revised and broader account would be welcome. Sheffield A. 1000. TICKLE Dunn, Elizabeth C. Privatizing Poland.BabyFood, BigBusiness, andtheRemaking of Labor. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY and London, 2004. viii + 204 pp. Map. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Alphabetize. $I8.95: ? I0.95 (paperback). THE highly successful Polish baby-food manufacturerAlima was i of the get-go major firms to exist privatized in post-Communist Europe. In the new relationship Alima would go uppercase to update its ageing equipment and develop skillsin unfamiliarareas such as accountancy and marketing,while the US giant Gerber entertained (ultimately unfulfilled) hopes that Alima would spearheaditsown breakthroughinto Europeanmarkets.Since Gerber'due south direction viewed Poland as a 'instance of arresteddevelopment' and Rzesz6w essentiallyas a backwardFremont,Michigan, the taskof modernizationwould be straightforward.This was a classic try to applywhat David Starkhas termed 'cookbookcapitalism';and of course the recipe did not quitework. When Elizabeth Dunn went to work on the Alima-Gerber fruit juice bottling assemblyline in the mid-I990s, the company had realized that, since 'Alimaemployees and Rzesz6w area farmerswere not the same as the people of Fremont',they would need refashioningin a differentmould. The Us firm would import such techniques every bit audit, quality control, niche marketingand task evaluation to AG to remake the identities and behaviour of not just its managers and workersbut also its suppliersand customers. Dunn's study of how existent people responded to these processesof micro-level transformationis multi-layered,stimulating,informativeand of interestto a wide rangeof social REVIEWS I93 scientific discipline disciplines.This is participant-observationat its best. It is no criticism to say that although she hobnobbed at every level of the firm, rode around with sales personnel, attended job interviews and training courses and interviewed managers, her sympathies clearly lie with the female work force of the factory floor. Her attention centres on the commodification of labour under capitalism and the complex yielding, adaptations and/or resistance offeredto the pressuresfor individuationand new structuresof domination. Three examples illustratethe ways in which this written report cannot exist regarded simply as the tale of a unmarried factory,fascinatingthough that storyis. The first illuminates the linguistic, symbolic and literal replacement of middlemanagement 'due south onetime socialist kierownik with the thrustingyoung menadter. The kierownik is an inflexiblebureaucratenmeshed in personaland social ties to his (mainly) superiorsand subordinates.The menadter is an adaptable, dynamic and forward-looking private. Since job history before I989 was 'socialist' and therefore'irrelevant',a curriculumvitae is of little use. What counts is the transformationof appearance to offer an impression of attitude: the menadter has dainty Western suits, a modern mobile phone, knowledge of the best restaurants is, in short, cosmopolitan and urbane. The kierownik may try hardbut remainsgauche and unsophisticated,wearsthewrong necktie and sandals with his sick-cut suitand tellsthe wrongjokes. The second illustrates the emergence of a new employee, the sales representative, who did non exist nether socialism, when deliveries were directed to a particularfirmor retailerby the Plan. Dunn observed how sales representativeswere pushed to function in the new earth of capitalism but found themselves...
This website uses cookies to ensure yous get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.
pattersonitth1992.blogspot.com
Source: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/818503/summary
0 Response to "Privatizing Poland Baby Food Big Business and the Remaking of Labor Review"
Post a Comment