Abstract
In this article, two contrasting theories on the attitudes of unskilled blue collar workers are confronted: the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis and the hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’. The ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis states that blue collar workersadopted the attitudes (and life style) of white collar workers, from whom they can no longer be distinguished. Lipset’s hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’, on the other hand, states that blue collar workers more strongly endorse a conservative attitude on socio-cultural matters and a progressive stand concerning socio-economic issues. Both hypotheses are tested using data from a small scale survey (N = 135) among unskilled blue collar workers and lower- and mid-level white collar workers from different large companies in the region of Leuven, Belgium. The results indicate that the interviewed unskilled blue collar workers still hold a set of attitudes that distinguishes them from the interviewed white collar workers. So, the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis was refuted. Instead, the unskilled blue collar workers were more conservative on a socio-cultural level, and more progressive concerning socio-economic issues. These results are in line with Lipset’s ‘authoritarianism of the working class’ hypothesis.
Highlights
In this article, two contrasting theories on the attitudes of blue collar workers are confronted: the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis and the hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’
The same pattern emerges in each case, with unskilled blue collar workers scoring more conservative than both groups of white collar workers
For example, all unskilled blue collar workers stress that children should learn conformist values during their upbringing, compared to ‘only’ 89% of lower-level white collar workers and 77% of midlevel white collar workers
Summary
Two contrasting theories on the attitudes of (unskilled) blue collar workers are confronted: the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis and the hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’. Both theories lead to opposing hypotheses, research far has focused on just one of them, without confronting it to its counterpart. Research concerning the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis mostly focuses on the economic attitudes of workers, whereas the hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’ refers to economic as well as non-economic attitudes. The structure of the working population changed (with a decrease of blue collar workers and an increase of white collar employees) and became more complex and heterogeneous (Bundervoet, 1992, 78; Pasture, 1991, 314-315)
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