Industrial Work, Instrumentalism, Learning Processes: An Old Debate in a Utopian Perspective

Research on unskilled industrial work suggests that workers' orientations to work are complex and ambivalent - implying defence mechanisms, resistance and (latent) interests in work and its change. This notion is discussed as a theoretical starting point for the project presented in the second part of the article: In an action research project, called 'Industry and Happiness', an egalitarian co-operation between unskilled workers and researchers has been developed. Through a utopian working method the workers have developed autonomous learning processes. On the basis of their own experiences they have produced visions of a democratic industry - viewed as part of a better life. The aim is a practical social experiment.