Ford’s metaphysics: On the Transcendental origins of Henry Ford’s Fordism

Abstract

Since it was first articulated by Antonio Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks (1929–1935), Fordism has been understood at two interconnected levels. At one level, it is understood in secular materialist terms as an archetypal system of mass production. At another, as a techno-economic paradigm of capitalist expansion. However, little attention has been given to the philosophical influences and ideas that underpinned Henry Ford’s (1863–1947) worldview and how this came to influence the formation of the factory systems at his Highland Park and River Rouge complexes. In most textbooks, it is assumed that Ford based his industrial design on a technological intensification of F.W. Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management. This article seeks to examine the origins and rationale behind Ford’s factory system by exploring the relationship between his personal worldview and the ‘ism’ which came to bear his name. Through a cultural-historical analysis, this article critically explores Henry Ford’s personal Fordism, and argues that what has come to be understood as one of the most ‘secular’ and ‘materialist’ processes of organising ‘men and machine’ began with an attempt by Henry Ford to realise a ‘metaphysical’ ideal that was informed by the popular philosophical and theological thought of the previous century. By returning to the ideas and the context of this period, Ford’s engagement with the work of the American Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) is considered to both contextualise Henry Ford’s Fordism and explore the philosophical tensions at the heart of his organisational theory and practice.

Debunking Ford’s relation to the past: history as “Bunk” in Emersonian perspective

“…In the same manner that Emerson's philosophy can explain the interconnected logic of Ford's industrial philosophy (Nye, 1979: Watt, 2020, his ideas also provide a contextual ground and conceptual means of addressing the contradictions at the heart of Ford's position on and seemingly against history. Throughout his life, Ford espoused his belief in progress through a series of interviews and co-authored publications (Ford, 2012(Ford, [1922(Ford, ], 2002(Ford, [1926, 1929); thus, aligning his own industrial activities to 'the progressive era' imperatives of the day (Haber, 1973).…”

“…For many, Ford was an archetypal embodiment of this new identity (Lewis, 1976). Indeed, the proliferation of Ford's ideas and products via his mass production methods have been read as the materialisation of this foremost Emersonian notion (Nye, 1974(Nye, , 1979Watt, 2020).…”

“…To make the case for this alternative perspective, Ford's claim is considered as a gesture of allegiance to a deeper cultural sensibility that was informed by the popular philosophical and theological thought of the previous century. This paper, therefore, builds on studies that have considered Ford's industrialism to have been rooted in "transcendental" rather than ostensibly "secular" and "materialist" practices (Watt, 2020). By providing an overview of this thought and accounting for Ford's engagement with its key tenets, his claim that "history is more or less bunk" is understood as part of wider efforts to understand the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendental philosophy on his personal worldview and industrial philosophy (Nye, 1974(Nye, , 1979.…”

ChatGPT ha llegado ¿Y ahora qué hacemos? La creatividad, nuestro último refugio

“…Se había conseguido en poco más de 50 años hacer desaparecer el conocimiento y control de los tiempos de producción que tenían los trabajadores. El trabajo en cadena del fordismo convirtió una actividad creativa en algo rutinario y alienante (Watt, 2020). En definitiva, lo que pretendía Ford con su cadena de producción era mejorar la productividad y, si fuera necesario, sustituir a un trabajador de un día para otro.…”