About this episode
Labor historian Henry Snow discusses the historical efforts of owners to control the labor process and the implications of management theories on capitalism.
Over the past four centuries, owners have sought to wrest control of the labor process away from the workers in plantations, factories, and warehouse. Ideas about labor management, dressed up as a science, have often failed on the shop floor, but they have served a broader purpose. Labor historian Henry Snow interrogates how theories of discipline and management — from the Bentham brothers’ panopticon to Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ideas of labor optimization to General Electric’s propaganda campaign featuring actor Ronald Reagan — have perennially reinforced the notion that there is no alternative to capitalism. Henry Snow, Control Science: How Management Made the Modern World Verso, 2026 The post Controlling Workers appeared first on KPFA.
People in this episode
Guest: Henry Snow
Topics covered
- labor control
- management theories
- capitalism
- discipline
- labor history
Keywords
- labor process
- management
- capitalism
- discipline
- history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Verso, General Electric
Books & works: Control Science: How Management Made the Modern World
More episodes of KPFA - Against the Grain
- The Anti-Defamation League and the Left · June 10, 2026 · 60 min
- AI, the Media, and the Billionaire Class · June 9, 2026 · 60 min
- Fighting Surveillance · June 8, 2026 · 60 min
- Triumph of the Yuppie · June 3, 2026 · 48 min
- Sex and Strength · June 2, 2026 · 60 min
- How the GOP Lurched Further to the Right · May 27, 2026 · 60 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the KPFA - Against the Grain podcast page.