Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire - Année 1987 - Volume 14 - Numéro 1 - Pages 13-24From mass worker to flexible worker, Jean-Paul de Gaudemar. Starting with the imperatives of productivity in industrial societies since the 19th century, the author examines the emergence of taylorism, then of the labor movement, and the progress of individual skill acquisition through education. He considers the need for flexibility, as common now in the office as in the factory, and thus gives a historical answer to the main question : how has the relation of the masses to the individual been expressed in terms of labor economy ? 12 pages Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.