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This paper is an attempt to unravel the post-Fordist debate. This is perceived as a recurrent debate about the future of capitalism which rages especially fiercely during periods of crisis and transition. Three different perspectives on post-Fordism are identified and explored, each one evolving out of a particular tradition within classical political economy and stressing different driving-forces behind the historical development of capitalism. An underlying theme within the paper is the existence of significantly contrasting views about the opennessof the new phase of capitalist development: disagreement over whether post-Fordism is primarily about the inevitable diffusion of a pervasive new discipline or the formation of strategic initiatives and the making of history.