Rhetoric and Reality in the Clothing Industry: The Case of Post-Fordism

Abstract

The concept of post-Fordism has aroused controversy in recent theoretical debates within industrial sociology. However, there have been few attempts to examine the con cept empirically. This study applies Richard Badham and John Mathews's model of post-Fordism to the Australian clothing industry. Using 18 case studies, key indicators of post-Fordism (such as product innovation, process variability and worker responsibility) are examined. The results suggest that although significant changes are observable in organisa tional and operational strategies, the clothing industry is best characterised by 'neo-Fordist' rather than 'post-Fordist' prac tices. The paper also argues that the individual firm is often a misleading unit of analysis in examining industrial change, and greater attention needs to be paid to strategic interlink- ages between companies.