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Huw Beynon
Next year will be the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Working for Ford and these two new reviews of the book came as something of a surprise. However, the issues they raise have forced me to return to the time when I was conducting research in Liverpool, a place which was emerging from its position as a Tory city. Autobiographical references are used to locate the book within my other writings at a time when the critical industrial-relations issues were very different from today. The central theme of the debate related to the intense militancy of the Ford workers, and particularly those based at the Halewood plant during the 1970s and particularly between 1969 and 1975. Explanations of this have a contemporary relevance, and both reviewers reveal this in highlighting the contested influences of the workplace and local circumstances upon workplace behaviour. In reflecting upon this I draw upon more recent historical research and also make use of the extended case method as used by Michael Burawoy to locate the Halewood study more firmly within my other fieldwork settings. Like Paul Edwards, I end with consideration of how these workplaces and localities have changed since Working for Ford was published.
