FRENCH REGULATION THEORY.

• Michel Aglietta and Alain Lipietz.
• a holistic perspective: against the economism of neoclassical economics and orthodox Marxism.
• emphasis on regulatory frameworks and institutions (the rules that govern the production process, labor laws, etc.).

CONCEPTUAL BUILDING BLOCS.

• Regime of accumulation: a long-term stabilization of a particular order of production, technology and consumption. The dominant regime of accumulation after World War II was a largely national one based on mass consumption.
• Mode of Regulation: the set of institutional rules and social procedures governing economic activity in a given state or society.
• The National Bargain (sometimes called the "Social Contract"): the relationship between capital (the business classes), labor (the working classes) and the state (governmental institutions and political parties).
• Pre-Fordism: 1890-1939: According to French regulation theory, this period was pre-Fordist (even though Ford motor company was already established) and characterized by a national bargain which pitted capital and the state against labor. Unions were fiercely resisted and the police used against strikers and picketers on many occasions. The severe crisis of capitalism called "the Great Depression" was eventually overcome by FDR's New Deal and the deficit spending unleashed by World War II.
• Fordism: 1945-1973, here the national bargain or social contract between capital, labor and the state is more harmonious. Big business and big labor develop the rules governing production together while the state after the New Deal, rather than favoring business, takes a relatively neutral role (this is often disputed by many who say that the state is never neutral and is always swayed by those with the power and cash to shape the political process).
• Post or Neo-Fordism: 1973-?, as a consequence of the unraveling of Pax Americana, the decline of corporate profitability, the increase in foreign competition, the development of new production technologies, computer controlled machine tools and lots of other factors, the Fordism national bargain is thrown into crisis. Globalization has changed the rules of the game.

FEATURES OF FORDISM.

• Flow-through, assembly line production for a mass market.
• use of a "just in case" inventory system.
• little quality control.
• Fixed/rigid machines technologies.
• single task machinery.
• limited use of computer technology.

Social contract between management and labor involving higher wages for increased productivity.

• skilled labor is largely unionized.
• collective bargaining procedures.
• strong blue collar manufacturing jobs at heart of economy.
• highly paid workers can afford to buy the products they produce.
• Highly regulated occupational specialization.
• hierarchical corporate structure.
• Taylorized workplace with detailed lines of authority on plant floor.

Welfare state.

• unemployment insurance.
• workers compensation.
• regulated and healthy workplace.
• social security.
• social medical system (in most states except US).

Regulated economic environment.

• the state's role is one of neutral arbitrator. e.g. in US, National Labor Relations Board as neutral institution of appeal..
• labor has a guaranteed right to strike.