By means of a critical appropriation of Burawoy's concept of `factory regime', this paper examines industrial relations in Lancaster, UK, through the 20th century. Having registered reservations about explanations of the quiescence of factory workers in terms of paternalism, the absence of industrial conflict in the town is attributed to a number of institutional forces that rendered workers heavily dependent upon local employers. The empirical case study is used to suggest ways of refining theoretical approaches to the politics of production.
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