Digital Commons Network^™

Marxist Manager Amidst The Progressives: Walter N Polakov And The Taylor Society, Diana J. Kelly

Diana J. Kelly

In recent years scholars have re-evaluated Taylorism and have shown that the heart of the scientific management movement, the Taylor Society, reflected many of the Progressive ideals that pervaded the first decades of twentieth century America. Indeed, such was the spirit of critical analysis and debate within the Taylor Society that while most practitioners and intellectuals who were members of the society were liberals, individuals whose ideological commitments were more radical also belonged to the Society. That an outspoken and avowed Marxist such as Walter Polakov could find a place in the Taylor Society attests to its ideological pluralism. This …