The management of the work-force: a sociological criticism of prevailing fashions

The management of the work-force in businesses has (re-)appeared in the last decade as a true problem for social science. Two dominant approaches have emerged: one that considers that a transition towards ‘a flexibleworkforce management’ is taking place and the other that analyses this transition as a move towards a new kind of management called ‘Human Resource Management’. But both approaches are suspect from a sociological point of view. This criticism rests, in the last analysis, on a theoretical reconsideration of the concept and meaning of labour force management within commercial enterprises.