Even though Fordism, the 1900s’ economic ‘magic-spell’ with the ingredients of scalability, specialisation, standardisation and scientific management, is no longer the path to financial success, it still exerts a great influence on the welfare apparatus.

It has its historical and organisational causes. Fordist ideas came, over time, to be adopted more by politicians, sociologists and cultural practitioners than by business. They have also been able to hibernate for a long time in the public sector, where there is no market that can correct inefficiencies and break down the conservative ideologies that were formed around all major systems.

Neither is there in our country any political direction that seriously tries to challenge the existing order. This could be related to the fact that both Left and Right have had their fingers in the cookie jar. During its heyday, Fordism came, for various reasons, to be loved by all political...