The Future of Industrial Man
Peter F. Drucker, 1942
Off the Shelf highlights the books of Peter F. Drucker. This week we look at Drucker’s second book, “The Future of Industrial Man,” first published in 1942.
Drucker says that “The Future of Industrial Man” was his most ambitious book. In it, he attempted to develop two social theories. The first considers society as a whole and describes the elements and characteristics that make any society “functioning and legitimate.” The second theory relates specifically to the industrial societies that emerged in the 20th century leading up to the Second World War and the political and economic challenges they encountered.
Drucker begins the book with an insight about how the conflict differed from those that came before it. “This is the first war,” he wrote, “to be fought as an industrial war — as a war in which industry is not an auxiliary but the main fighting force itself.” There was no going back. The massive industries that were developed to supply armies would be maintained and become a defining feature of peacetime society once the fighting came to an end.
The challenge, once peace was achieved, was to rebuild a functioning society in the wake of such drastic economic and political change.
“This is the first war...to be fought as an industrial war — as a war in which industry is not an auxiliary but the main fighting force itself.”
Book Synopsis
The Future of Industrial Man is the only book by Peter Drucker in which he systematically develops a basic social theory. He presents the requirements for any society to be functioning and legitimate, and then applies these general concepts to the special case of the industrial society. In his new introduction, Drucker explains that his reference to mercantilism in The Future of Industrial Man can today be called neoconservatism, which, he asserts, denies rather than affirms the reality of industrial and postindustrial society.
Drucker outlines the major shifts of previous centuries. He describes the move from an agrarian to an industrial economy, illustrates the structure and dynamics of this new industrial order, and warns of the abuses inherent in the system if attempts are made to maintain it under anachronistic social conventions. He emphasizes the fact that the new industrial order must operate under a "legitimate" system of po-litical power supported by social authority. He discusses the particular roles of the owners, the workers, the managers―the corporation itself―as he pinpoints the problem that he considers the most central and the most critical: how to maintain the continuing freedom of the individual in an increasingly intricate, bureaucratized world.
