Beyond the Debate over ‘Post’-vs ‘Neo’-Taylorism

This article aims at studying the evolution of the organization of work, working practices and social and professional relationships in industry. It seeks to demonstrate that it is possible to transcend traditional analyses of factory work in terms of binary oppositions (Taylorism vs post-Taylorism or neo-Taylorism) by analysing the diversity of production models in conjunction with long-term fieldwork. In this study of the Belgian iron and steel industry, the various practices of plant actors are viewed in the light of the challenges defined by strategic choices of the company.