Post–Fordism: A Reader

Part analysis of contemporary change and part vision of the future, post–Fordism lends its name to a set of challenging, essential and controversial debates over the nature of capitalism′s newest age. This book provides an introduction to debates over the nature of capitalism′s newest age and includes key texts by post–Fordism′s major theorists and commentators. At the heart of the book lie several related questions. Is the mass production era of Henry Ford now over, and has "Fordism" finished? Are new "information technologies" transforming western economies and creating new forms of social, political and cultural life in the process? The answers have been hotly contested, not least by writers sympathetic to a post–Fordist perspective. From Ash Amin′s indispensable introductory essay to Susan Christopherson′s bracing account of the contemporary "fortress city", this book is a guide through post–Fordism′s models, fantasies and phantoms of transition. The other contributors are: Mark Elam, Josef Esser, Mike Featherstone, David Harvey, Joachim Hirsch, Bob Jessop, Alain Lipietz, Anders Malmberg, Margit Mayer, Jamie Peck, Charles Sabel, Michael Storper, Adam Tickell, and John Tomaney.

List of Contributors. Acknowledgements. 1. Post–Fordism: Models, Fantasies and Phantoms of Transition: Ash Amin (University of Newcastle). Part I: New Macroeconomic Designs: . 2. Puzzling out the Post–Fordist Debate: Technology, Markets and Institutions: Mark Elam (Linkoping University). 3. The Crisis of Fordism and the Dimensions of a ′Post–Fordist′ Regional and Urban Structure: Josef Esser (Goethe University, Germany) and Joachim Hirsch (Goethe University, Germany). Part II: New Sociologies and Geographies of Industrial Organisation: . 4. Flexible Specialisation and the Re–emergence of Regional Economies: Charles F. Sabel (MIT, USA). 5. A New Paradigm of Work Organization and Technology: John Tomaney (University of Newcastle–upon–Tyne). 6. The Transition to Flexible Specialization in the US Film Industry: External Economies, the Division of Labour and the Crossing of Industrial Divides: Michael Storper (University of California, Los Angeles, USA). 7. Competing Structural and Institutional Influences on the Geography of Production in Europe: Ash Amin (University of Newcastle–upon–Tyne) and Anders Malmberg (Uppsala University, Sweden). Part III: Policy and Politics Beyond Fordism: . 8. Post–Fordism and the State: Bob Jessop (Lancaster University). 9. Searching for a New Institutional Fix: The After –Fordist crisis and Global–local Disorder: Jamie Peck (Manchester University) and Adam Tickel (Leeds University). 10. Post–Fordist City Politics: Margit Mayer (Free University of Berlin, Germany). 11. Post–Fordism and Democracy: Alain Lipietz (CEPREMAP, Paris, France). Part IV: Post–Fordist City Lives and Lifestyles: . 12. Flexible Accumulation through Urbanization: Reflections on ′Post–Modernism′ in the American City: David Harvey (Johns Hopkins University). 13. City Cultures and Postmodern Lifestyles: Mike Featherstone (Teeside University). 14. The Fortress City: Privatized Spaces, Consumer Citizenship: Susan Christopherson (Cornell University, USA). Index.

Ash Amin works in the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. He is the editor, most recently, of Globalisation, Institutions and Regional Development in Europe (with Nigel Thrift).

"Those tempted to venture onto this contested terrain would be well advised to choose their guidebook carefully and at present there are few which do the job better that Ash Amin′s edited collection. The book′s key virtue, it seems to me, is that it does not pursue a particular agenda in relation to the debate, but draws its contributions from across the spectrum of opinion." J. H. Love, Regional Studies "If this particular Reader were a CD then it would no doubt be called ′Now That′s What I Call Post–Fordism′ or perhaps ′The Best Book on Post–Fordism... Ever!′." Andrew Leyshon, University of Bristol