Has the arrival of the knowledge economy destroyed Braverman's Essay

Has the arrival of the knowledge economy destroyed Braverman's Deskilling Thesis - Essay Example Particular emphasis is given on the interaction of this theory with the knowledge economy; reference is made especially to the fact whether the arrival of the knowledge economy has destroyed the Deskilling Thesis of Braverman or not. The main elements of the two concepts are critically examined. The literature published in the specific field is used in order to check the power of each of the above concepts and their potential perspectives to survive under the terms that current social conditions have been significantly changed compared to the period when the Marxist theories were introduced. At this point it would be necessary to refer to the general framework of the Deskilling Thesis of Braverman, as one of the theories reflecting the Marxist view on the relationship between humans and capital. In accordance with Smith (2000) the Deskilling Thesis of Braverman is based on the proposition that ‘the development of capitalism as an economic system has led to the deskilling of wor kers’ (Smith 2000, p.327). In the context of the above theory, the deskilling of workers is developed through the gradual replacement of highly skilled workers with others, less trained (Smith 2000, p.327). The latter are expected to take lower compensation, a fact that leads to the limitation of ‘bargaining power of workers’ (Smith 2000, p.327), a fact, which can be characterized as one of the priorities of capitalism. The view of Braverman on the deskilling of workers has been mainly based on the Marxist views on capitalism. However, influences seem also to exist from the work of other theorists, who also supported the expansion of deskilling as a social phenomenon in the context of capitalism: an indicative example is the view of Helmut Schelsky (1954) on ‘the role of automation in the increase of stress at work’ (Schelsky 1954, in Stehr 2002, p.143); Merton (1947) has been another theorist supporting deskilling, which was characterized as ‘ enforced obsolescence of skills’ (Merton 1947 in Stehr 2002, p.143). The terms on which the theory of Braverman on deskilling has been based have been extensively criticized; in accordance with Bradley (2000) the particular theory of Braverman promotes ‘a romantic view of skill, ignoring its political and social construction’ (Bradley 2000, p.118). Moreover, Bandelj (2009) notes that the Deskilling Thesis of Braverman is based on capitalism as a trend focusing on the ‘mechanization of labour, the social context of which is heavily ignored’ (Bandelj 2009, p.190). A similar criticism is included in the study of Watson-Boone (1998); the above researcher emphasizes on the following element of Braverman’s theory: in the context of the Braverman theory, the worker is considered to be ‘totally controlled by the capital’ (Watson-Boone, 1998, p.6), a view which could be possibly applied in the past, but in the context of the modern society such perspective cannot be considered as absolute. On the other hand, Kridel (2010) characterizes the view of Braverman on deskilling as partially justified; it is explained that the perceptions of Braverman ‘on the isolation of worker from the production process, as a result of the expansion of capitalism’ (Kridel 2010, p.284) reflected the social and economic conditions of a particular era. Moreover, it is noted that the Deskilling Thesis of Braverman has been used in practice for supporting the need of teachers for being protected towards the mechanization of their role –