Capitalism, Social Privilege and Managerial Ideologies

Originally published in 2005. This book analyzes the evolution of administrative thought from the nineteenth century to the present, considering it as ideological discourse. Rather than merely being a succession of fads, Gantman shows how each successive discourse about the organization of work serves to legitimate social interests. The book's compelling conclusion is that instead of a tendency towards increasing theoretical refinement, what is more evident is a trend towards fictionalization, which ends in the contemporary paradigm of flatter, more participative and democratic organizational forms. Students and scholars interested in organization theory, management history, the sociology of work or critical management will gain many new insights from this historical reconstruction of the evolution of management thought.

Dr Ernesto R. Gantman is Adjunct Professor in the Facultad de Ciencias Economicas at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and also a Professor in Escuela de Economia y Negocios Internacionales at the Universidad de Belgrano, Argentina.

Contents: Introduction: ideology and administrative thought; Utopian socialism as administrative ideology; Procapitalist managerial ideologies of the Nineteenth Century in England and the United States; Managerial ideologies and the legitimation of liberal capitalism; Scientific management; The human relations ideology; Systemic rationalism; The legitimating contribution of managerial ideologies to organized capitalism; The new paradigm of management; The world of work under disorganized capitalism; The significance and legitimating contribution of the new paradigm of management; Managerial ideologies in historical perspective; Conclusion: management today; References; Index.