Management systems, strikes and the coverage of “labor unrest” in the engineering literature during the Progressive era

This article provides first‐hand, empirical data to demonstrate that during the Progressive period, mechanical engineers used labor unrest as a rhetorical device to increase public interest in management systems. This political strategy was necessary, given the objection of manufacturers to the installation of management systems in industrial firms. The study is based on systematic analysis of two magazines in which the study of management was first codified and crystallized: the Engineering Magazine , and the American Machinist .