Fixing the Social Factory. A Case Study from Australia‘s Aluminum Industry in the 1960s

After the numerous strikes during Italy’s 'Hot Autumn' in 1969, the Swiss aluminum producer Alusuisse decided to close its alumina plant in Porto Maghera in the north-eastern part of Italy. In the very same year, the company opened a new alumina plant in a very remote part of Australia. The paper examines how labor management strategies changed with this 'spatial fix'. While in the case of Italy, the management of Alusuisse opted for a confrontation with labor unions and workforces, the Swiss multinational company tried to content Australian workers on various levels and limit their organizational and strategic power.
Since the new plant was established in an isolated area of the country—a common feature of many mining projects—the company had to build a new town for about 5000 people. Because of their remoteness, many mining sites and towns force companies to deal with problems related to the labor force reproduction as well as the production of raw materials. This allows a combined analysis of the spheres of social reproduction and economic production. Drawing on Social Reproduction Theory, this contribution analyzes the spatial strategies of the company, in order to manage paid and unpaid workers.
Remoteness was one of the key factors influencing the described scenario. It affected labor management as well as the power relations between workers and managers. On the one hand, remoteness increased the structural power of the workforce. In the design of the plant and the adjacent mine, the management therefore strongly focused on measures preventing strikes, such as conveyor belts or central command rooms. On the other hand, remoteness forced the company to assume a lot of responsibility for social welfare in order to recruit and retain its employees. As the paper shows, the management opted for a suburban city planning, aimed at attracting families and married workers. Relying on the gendered subjectification of suburban space, the company managed to 'spatially fix' women in the suburban 'dream house', while securing their reproductive work for the community and the workforce.
Analyzing the spatial organization of the factory and the urban planning of the city as two sides of the same coin, the paper refers to the concept of the 'social factory' (as developed by Italian Marxists in the 1960s). Against this background, it raises important questions concerning the boundaries of factories and the resources that are necessary to sustain international companies.