Research Projects on Workers

Series

In 1969, István Kemény was instructed by the Institute of Social Sciences to conduct two research projects on workers, the first in the Csepel Iron and Metal Works, and the other among workers in Pest County. The results of the two surveys were summarized in two books issued in 1970. Parallel with the representative research, interviews were conducted. The findings of both research projects were used and published in the 1971/1 Issue of Szociológia, in an article entitled Strata of the Hungarian Working Class. In this article, the results of statistical analysis were explicated in their historical context, explaining that the impact of the contemporary and inherited order of distribution of work on social classes was manifest in the way of living. At that time Kemény’s view was that workers are a huge group in movement rather than a well defined social class. In 1972 Kemény contracted with the Institute of History to carry out another research project focusing on workers. The book entitled Hungarian Workers was finished in 1973 but remained unpublished, while typewritten and illegally copied versions were circulated. A shortened version was published in Paris in 1985, under the title Ouvriers hongrois. Finally the book was published in Hungary in 1990 as The Machine Grew with Us. In this book, Kemény tried to give a full picture of the life of workers by applying various perspectives and exploring different aspects, including the description of different ways of living and the role of the second economy and the private sector. Besides, a significant research area was the relationship between man and machine. In Kemény’s opinion the rise of technology makes working processes more rational, impersonal and scientific. The most important topics in his research projects were the workers’ views on society, and the critical evaluation of the legitimacy of top managers as well as the structure of power within factories. At the command of the Party Center the contract with the Institute of History was terminated in March 1974, and Kemény was banned from all research and publishing. Nonetheless, in 1974 and 1975 Kemény continued his research under an alibi. In the study entitled The Motorcycle Factory Assembly Line, written in 1975, Kemény denies the claim that capitalist development leads to degradation of work. Later on not only were his findings used, but the case study as a method started to spread through the field of economic behavior research. The study was published in the samizdat compilation Profil edited by János Kenedi. The series includes transcripts of interviews conducted during the course of research projects, documentation and case studies. Important items of the series are the studies defining the terms way of living and also the case study The Motorcycle Factory Assembly Line.

During the course of processing no materials have been removed from the series.

Not Expected

The series is arranged in alphabetical order.

Not Restricted

The series contains paper documents of good physical condition.

Processed by János Dávid, Gábor Havas, János Köllő, Júlia Varga, Krisztina Passuth and Örs Lehel Tari, September 21, 2016.