The world of work

Abstract

A persistent characteristic of the postwar U.S. economy has been the expansion of white-collar jobs and the drop in blue-collar employment. Following the trend, industrial sociologists studied clerical workers, insurance companies, and office automation. Interest in the shop floor and smokestack manufacturing declined. Nonetheless, despite the upsurge in knowledge-based industries, management schools, and computerized technology, a third of the American labor force is still classified as blue collar; most still work in manufacturing. In petrochemicals, the automobile industry, and construction, the blue-collar work force still holds sway. And at election time, the blue-collar vote can carry key states. Whether in production or politics, the role of the blue-collar worker has tremendous impact. The decline is relative, not absolute. The three books considered here provide new insights into such basic issues as control on the shop floor, working-class identity, and adjustment