This article discusses changing patterns of workers’ collective action in the German automobile industry. Undertaken by the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen, the research studies the introduction of teamwork (Gruppenarbeit) in three factories between the early 1990’s and mid-2000’s. In those studies, one of the main hypotheses contends that repetitive alienating assembly line work could be reduced by “enriching” employment. Furthermore, a greater degree of self-determination on the part of workers, namely more democracy at the workplace, would likely lead to an increase in productivity, too. Next, a secondary analysis of the historical interviews with workers, indicates that workers used the company’s promise of greater democracy to hold management accountable, plus they did not lose sight of the fact that the existence of conflicting interests between the firm and workforce required the latter to maintain traditional forms of labour organization.

Review (Daniel Behruzi, junge Welt, 07.01.2020)