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12-1-1985

Review of: The Second Industrial Divide:

Possibilities for Prosperity by Michael J. Piore and
Charles F. Sabel
Leon Grunberg
University of Puget Sound, grunberg@pugetsound.edu

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Citation
Grunberg, Leon. "Book Review: the Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity." The American Political Science Review.
79.4 (1985): 1220-1221. Print.

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The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity by Michael J. Piore; Charles F. Sabel
Review by: Leon Grunberg
The American Political Science Review, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Dec., 1985), pp. 1220-1221
Published by: American Political Science Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1956301 .
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1220 The American Political Science Review
ment, the structure and orientation of the two
Korean political systems show a remarkable
degree of similarity that has been shaped by
military competition, their peripheral position in
the world economy, a common political culture,
and popular demands for stability, moderniza-
tion, and democracy.
Although the chapters are of uneven quality,
Kihl's Politics and Policy in Divided Korea is an
evenhanded, thorough, and sophisticated com-
parison of the political systems of North and
South Korea. The book will be useful to anyone
interested in Korean politics and American policy
towards Korea, as well as to those concerned with
divided nations and political change in the Third
World.
JOHN MERRILL
Lafayette College
The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for
Prosperity.By MichaelJ. Piore and CharlesF.
Sabel. (New York: Basic Books, 1984. Pp.
335. $21.95.)
It has by now become a commonplaceamong
political economiststhat we are living througha
crisis that marks a transition in the history of
capitalism.MichaelJ. Piore and CharlesF. Sabel
join in the chorus arguingthat we are in such a
transitionperiod, what they call a "second in-
dustrialdivide." However,what is novel in their
workis theirreluctanceto engagein deterministic
thinking and to predict, as if there were some
necessaryor unilinearunfoldingto socioeconomic
development,what the next stage will be like. In-
stead, they arguethat we face a choice about the
directionwe can move in, and that the choiceis in
many ways similar to the choice faced by our
ancestors at the beginnings of the industrial
revolution. The choice is between continuing
along a courseof developmentfoundedon mass-
productiontechnologyand its relatedinstitutions
or rechartingour course in the directionof craft
production. Their preferenceis clearly for the
latter.
The book makes strange reading to one ac-
customed to the dominantlines of argumentin
the current discourse in political economy. It
breaksradicallywith both the form and substance
of prevailinganalyses of the crisis. Piore and
Sabel reject completely systemic models of the
economy and their attendant laws or logics of
development.Rather they opt for a contingent
model of historical developmentwherein tech-
nologies, market strategies, and labor control
policies are adopted, sometimes accidentally,
sometimesdue to the exigenciesof events, and
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Vol. 79
sometimesas resultof politicalstruggles.For ex-
ample, they claimthat the assemblyline, the legal
frameworkof the New Deal years,and the rise of
mass industrialunions, were a product of some
combinationof experimentation,expediency,or
fairlyrandomevents(likethe GreatDepressionor
WorldWarII) and not of any logic of capitalism.
Much of the supportfor this view comes from a
revisionist reconstruction of U.S. economic
historyand from a comparisonof the experiences
of France, Italy, West Germany, and Japan. I
found the historical reconstructiontoo meager
and too conjecturalto be convincing.However,
the comparisonsclearly indicate that the same
mass productiontechnology can operate within
different labor-control systems. Even here,
however,Piore and Sabel are forced to concede
that thereare greatsimilaritiesbetweenadvanced
capitalistcountries,and one mighthave expected
this acknowledgmentto temper their absolute
dismissalof deterministicmodelsof development.
In the substanceof theirargumentsthe authors
relegatethe ideas of Adam Smith and KarlMarx
to the sidelines.It is the neglectedPierre-Joseph
Proudhon who is resurrectedand given center
stage. Indeed, in their advocacy for craft-based
production("flexiblespecialization"is the phrase
they prefer), one finds a repetitionof many of
Proudhon's arguments.In the world of flexible
specializationthey envision,thereis no unbridled
and cut-throatcost and pricecompetition,for this
wouldstifle innovationand encouragesweatshop
conditions.Insteadthereis a benignform of com-
petitionwherefirmsseek to best each otherin in-
novationsand yet consent to shareamong them-
selvesskillsand technologicalknowledge.Nor do
Piore and Sabel have much use for entrenched
classconflictin this best of all possibleworlds,for
the strugglebetween capital and labor produces
rigiditiesin productionand divisions within the
community.Insteadthey foreseecooperationand
bargainingbasedon trust, or, as Proudhonput it,
based on respect.Thus capitalistswould not take
advantageof their greaterpotential mobility to
extract unfair concessions from labor because
communitypressurewould remindcapitalistsof
their responsibilities.
Piore and Sabel see evidencethat versionsof
flexible specializationcan flourishin the new in-
tensely competitive conditions of the eighties.
Theypoint to the dynamismof the textiledistricts
in northernand centralItaly, to the successof the
mini steel mills in the United States, and to the
federatedconglomerateenterprisesof Japan. All
point in the directionof localismand regionalism;
of federationsof enterpriseslinked together in
communities of respect, with harmony main-
tainedwherenecessaryby the centralgovernment.
This happy state may or may not follow this
1985 Book Reviews: Comparative and Other Area Studies
period of transition. It all "depends on a thou-
sand imponderables of international politics" (p.
281).
Although there is much to admire in this pro-
vocative book (here I think especially of the com-
parative case studies), the overall argument rests
on very fragile supports, and the case made for a
"republic of small holders" seeks to dissolve, as if
by magic, too many concrete contradictions. One
is reminded of Marx's assessment of Proudhon:
"he wants to be the synthesis-he is a composite
error."
LEON GRUNBERG
University of Puget Sound
Nationalismand Federalismin Yugoslavia,1963-
1983. By PedroRamet.(Bloomington:Indiana
University Press, 1984. Pp. xviii + 299.
$27.50.)
Theoriesformulatedin one sphereof learning
can often be modified to illuminatethe subject
matter of another. In this stimulatingvolume,
Pedro Ramet uses internationalrelationstheory
to analyzeethnicproblemsin postwarYugoslavia.
Ramet argues that "if the federal units of
Yugoslaviaenjoyedeven half as much autonomy
as the system'sapologistsmaintained,the pattern
of interactionamong those units would resemble
the patternof behaviorof other collective units
operating within a regional system," and "it
shouldbe possibleto comparethe behavioralpat-
terns of Yugoslavfederalunits and states in the
internationalsystem" (p. xi). Consequently,the
behavior of federal republics and the central
government(yet anotheractor)will be a function
of the distributionof power within this system.
Ramet derives a set of hypotheses elaborating
upon these assumptionswith the use of Morton
Kaplan's typology of systems of international
behavior, specifically the balance of power
system.
After descriptionsof Yugoslavia'sfederal in-
stitutional structure, the history of Communist
party nationalitiespolicy in Yugoslavia,and the
policymakingpowers enjoyed by the republics,
Rametundertakesa seriesof case studiesof inter-
republicanand interethnic conflict since 1963.
These studies include the economic reform from
1963 to 1971, the emergingeruptionof Croatian
nationalistand secessionistsympathiesfrom 1967
to 1972, and outbreaksof Bosnianand Albanian
nationalismin the 1970sand 1980s.
Not surprisingly,Ramet finds that contraryto
Yugoslav claims, nationalism remains alive
among the country'sminorities.More interesting
is analysis that demonstratesthat the Yugoslav
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1221
federal structure, designed to limit nationalist
discontent, itself restrictsthe courses of action
that might be taken to amelioratethe sourcesof
ethnic hostility. Finally, Ramet discovers that
interrepublicanalliances are fluid, which con-
trastswith the conventionalwisdomthat believes
wealthierrepublicsnormallyform one bloc and
their poorerneighborsanother.
Ramet's approach suffers from some of the
same pitfalls evident in internationalrelations
theory:the units of analysisare not unifiedactors
but comprise a range of policy demands and
desires.Indeed,a groupof Croatianconservatives
opposed the nominalinterestsof theirrepublicin
the crisisfrom 1967to 1972.In addition,although
accountsof the crisisin Kosovo and descriptions
of the economicproblemsfacedby Yugoslaviaare
interestingin themselves, at times Ramet loses
sightof the connectionbetweenthe detailsand his
analyticalframework.
As Rametpoints out, controversiesyet exist as
to whetherYugoslaviais essentiallyfederalistor
unitarist.The volumeunderreviewweighsheavily
in favor of the latter judgment. The book pro-
vides a wealthof informationon the policy issues
faced by the Yugoslavs,interethnicrivalries,and
a seriesof hypothesesthat attemptto accountfor
the problemsthe Yugoslavpolitical system faces
in trying to come to grips with the complexities
posed by the nationaldivisionsin its society. This
book should be read by all studentsof contem-
poraryYugoslavia,as well as those interestedin
the phenomenaof ethnicityand nationalism.
STEPHEN R. BuRANT
TheLibraryof Congress
World RevolutionaryLeaders.By Mostafa Rejai
and Kay Phillips. (New Brunswick, N.J.:
RutgersUniversityPress, 1983. Pp. x + 237.
$29.00.)
This volume describesa sampleof 135 revolu-
tionaryleadersof 31 violent politicalrevolutions
from the English Revolution of the 1640s to
severalrevolutionsin progressin 1978, including
revolutionsfrom all world regions. It continues,
updates, and expands Rejai's 1979 Leaders of
Revolution(Sage). To gatherthe necessarydata,
the authors had to overcome problems of lan-
guage, official and revolutionarysecrecy,and the
determinedmyth-makingof both revolutionaries
and their opponents.
Despite the importanceof the topic of study
and the labor involved, the volume has serious
practical,theoretical,and methodologicalflaws,
and so contributes little to our knowledge of
revolutionaries. Practically, even taking the