Industrial Relations

Abstract

The material origins of industrial relations, both in practice and in research, can be traced to the movement from early to advanced capitalism. The rise of capitalism, centering on the purchase and sale of labor power, ushered in a new structure of relations between the direct producers and their controllers. Workers were brought together in centralized work stations and subjected to an authority relationship and hierarchical division of labor. The bosses had the right to hire and fire their charges, set their wages, and dictate the hours and intensity of work. The detailed division of labor was entrenched and reinforced in the factories, thus rendering worker solidarity and collective organization difficult. But the unbridled authority of bosses eventually came to be challenged. Workers formed embryonic unions and relations between workers and their masters became increasingly fraught.