Workplace change
Fordism; automated labour process,
mass production of homogenous goods,
jobs fairly secure.
Significant control of workers by management.
Post fordism; diverse specialised products,
Computer controlled manufacturing
Flexible labour pattern
Secure jobs in decline
Braverman ; Deskilling
Automation has removed the control of the worker over the labour market. Work no longer needs specialised skills like before, it now requires mindless repetition, eg farming, factory work
, call centres
Strengths –
Unemployment has risen in most capitalist economies
Weber bargaining power ( has been reduced)
Weaknesses –
Overemphasises amount of crafts and trades in the 19th century
Studies against deskilling Eg Penn. Penn looked at the paper industry as the unskilled labourers were replaced with skilled and semi skilled workers.
Braverman ignores the position of women. Beechey says that women have been affected more by deskilling then men. Gaille claimed “skill polarization”
Crompton and Jones found that clerical work was dominated by women while the higher skill work in banking was filled with men
Embourgeoisiement thesis
Fulcher and Scott say that until the late 20th century there was a strong sense of class loyalty
Lockwood said that there was a proletarian traditionalist where workers felt a strong sense of loyalty to each other
Goldthorpe and Lockwood state that a new Privatised instrumentalist has been formed where work has become a means to an end. A new working class has been formed which has converged with the middle class.
Devine (1992) also disagreed with the embourgeoisiement thesis. There was still solidarity within classes, people still joined Trade unions for solidarity.
Workplace change
Klein- flexible labour means less rights for workers, no unions
Disneyisation; Bryman; combination consumption (eg shopping eating), emotional work where employees have to show certain emotions
McDonaldisation; Ritzer automation and self service to maximise profits
Flexible employment
Nearly half of women in the workplace are part time.
5% of the workforce is on temporary work contracts, this has been referred to as casualisation of the labour force.
Self employment has increased since the 1970’s and has been made easier with the advancement of the internet and home PC’s
Weberians would argue that a dual labour market has been produced. The core workers have secure jobs with good rights while the part time workers are less trained with lower levels of skill.
Feminists including Walby argue that women are members of the secondary labour, ( housework, childcare) market as well as ethnic minorities (racial discrimination)
Marxists say that the changes in the workplace are just more effective ways of capitalism and exploitation of the working class. Flexible employment means fewer rights for employees. Students + women act as the reserve army of labour and are used when capitalists deem them necessary (eg World wars)
Post modernists say that flexible employment is a good thing as it allows people a greater choice for their lives. It also reflects the diminishing of class as a way people identify themselves with consumption becoming more important.
Working class awareness and political consciousness
Marshall (1988) found that the working classes feel that society is based on an “us and “them” structure. Society is dichotomous with the two groups being rich and poor. This supports Marx
Evaluation – 63% of a survey , not all thought that
Subjectivity of survey
Other surveys show 90% of people believe in class conflict. This goes against the most modern theory of Pakulski and Waters (class is dead)
Political participation (falling in the working class)
Fall in Trade union members in the working class
Labour party has move to the centre, disillusionment for the working class as all political parties seem the same as Marshall said.
The working class has fragmented into many different groups
Trade Unions
Trade union membership has declined for males from 1995 to 2004 going from 41.5% to 28.5%. However for females the number has increased between 1995 and 2004 from 22.1% to 29.1%.
Membership with the young is on the decline, only 10’6% of male employees aged 16-24 are in a union with the figure being 8.9% for women in the same age group.
Decline in Manual trade union membership, less then 40% of male manual workers are in trade unions.
Explanation
Pakulski and waters would say that there is no longer a collective class identity. They would also argue that people join unions for individual reasons that are for personal gain. This fits in with the embourgeoisiement thesis of Goldthorpe and lockwoood (privatised instrumentalist).
Flexible employment is another factor with the move towards part time and temporary contracts that are less likely to be unionised. Klein found that is in her book “no Logo.”
The powers of Trade unions have also declined due to Thatcher who weakened them especially with the miners. Traditionally the trade unions were aligned with the Labour party. The labour party was funded by them, but recently the labour party has severed that link.
Workplace change and its effect on class identity and formation
Expansion of the middle classes has occurred. Approximately 25% of workers are manual so the middle classes have become the majority. Savage 1995 There are more university lecturers then coal miners.
Explanation; Manual jobs in decline since the 1970’s due to a number of reasons, technology, the oil crisis and globalisation.
Tertiary economy has expanded in the last 20 years with education meaning that there is a qualified workforce. The service sector is made up of mainly male professionals at its top end but is dominated by women.
Distinguishing between the classes is difficult and has been referred to as the boundary problem. Before the distinction was made between white and blue collar workers, but it is no longer that simple.
Roberts et al argued that the middle class has become fragmented into a number of different groups. Savage speaks of four groups that make up the middle class; professionals, managers, the self employed and routine white collar workers.
The four groups
Professionals have high status, rewards and job security. They recruit internally and are highly unionised (eg Doctors threatened action and won recently when it was proposed that they would have to work for more years)
Managers are upwardly mobile from routine white collar workers. They have highly specialised skills that are not easily transferable to other companies. Very individualised and see fellow managers as competitors.
Higher managers are on very high wages, but middle managers such as bank managers lack job security and may be the victim of company downsizing.
Self employed make up over 10% of the workforce. Fielding found that two thirds of his sample in 1991 from 1981 were stable and secure. The number of self employed has risen with the number of consultants in finance and the computer industry in particular rising rapidly.
Routine white collar worker – Braverman would argue that they have been deskilled and are no longer the middle class. They have lost there economic and social advantages over the working class that they previously had. The routine working class are the same as the manual workers now according to Braverman
The Upper class
The aristocracy has declined with the removal of them from the House of Lords and death duties meaning they have become downwardly mobile.
However the top 1% own 23% of the wealth , and many of the upper class keep their wealth through avoiding tax.
Scott argues that there now exists a unified property class which has actively used its wealth to maintain its privileged position at the top of the socio-economic structure
There are 3 groups of the upper class
Entrepreneurial capitalists- mainly own businesses founded by their family
Internal capitalists – headed by senior executives who head the bureaucracies that run the big corporations.
Finance capitalists- own or run institutions
Social closure exists with marrying usually occurring within the upper classes. Education being in elitist public schools likes Harrow.
Summary of theories of changing social class
Neo Marxists ( eg Wright)
Identity is based on the inequality produced in the class conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat with the Bourgeoisie owning the means of production.
There are ten classes based on the means of production, the classes who do not own the means of production are sub divided in terms of the skill they possess and the extent to which they have control over others
Evaluation
+ Aims to update Marx
+Able to make a difference between capitalists and non-capitalists
- How can skill allow one social class exploit?
- Theory moves towards Weber rather then Marx
Neo Weberian (eg Goldthorpe)
Makes distinction between occupation and status. Class inequality is based on market situation.
There are seven classes, determined by the market situation of different jobs under the banner of service class , intermediate class and working class Those at the top are in the best market situation due to their skills.
Evaluation
+ Aims to update Weber
+ Able to distinguish between a variety of non-capitalist classes
- maybe is to broad with categorization eg the intermediate class contains routine white collar workers and small property owners.
- Feminists point out that Goldthorpe’s theory still only uses men to determine class of a household and ignores the role of women in the workplace
- Obscures the existence of a small but powerful class ( Marxist )
Post Modernist ( eg Pakulski + Waters)
Class is dead. Only groups based on status inequality of consumption of goods. Class has been replaced by an individualised society.
Evaluation
+ supported by the decline in trade union involvement
+ supported by the rise in privatised instrumentalist attitudes (goldthorpe and lockwood)
-Overlooks evidence to suggest that class identity and class inequality is still important (eg Education, middle class to better then working class)
Gender Inequality in the workplace
14% of software professionals are women compared to 89% of hairdressers being women. The 5 C’s . catering , cleaning, clerical work. Caring, ?
Structuralist view
Walby; Patriarchy through six forms which are all interlinked
Workplace
Household
State laws and benefits
Violence from men
Sexual relations
Culture (media , religion , education)
Hartmann is a Marxist feminist who argues that capitalism and patriarchy work together to keep women trapped in a cycle of inequality. A dual system is in effect which is both capitalism and patriarchy working together.
1) women have a weak position in the labour market; discrimination, part time , less likely to be in unions. Makes it easy for bourgeoisie to control them.
2) Secondary labour market saving the bourgeoisie money on wages which increases profits
3) Women are not in control of their finances which helps the patriarchal control of men
4) Women get married due to lack of financial independence which also helps men maintain patriarchal control
5) Conjugal roles , eg Oakley women do more housework
6) Women have the role of primary care giver and so this comprises their position in the labour market meaning men may be favoured.
Evaluation
+ combines Marxist and feminist theories which support each other
+supported by stats; women earn 17% less then men, even bigger gap in part time work
- theory not based on evidence
- exaggerated version of patriarchy which ignores historical shifts
- Black feminists would argue that they ignore the position of women in ethnic minorities
- Education encouraging women to do non traditional careers eg WISE
Non structuralist approach
Hakim
A longitudinal study which began in the 1960’s and continued to the 1980’s.
Feminist myths; there has been no substantial increase in women’s participation in the workplace, part time may have increased but not full time.
Although women receive less pay and lower status then men they report better job satisfaction.
Women who work part time are generally less committed to their jobs then full time employees (measured by absenteeism)
Lack of available childcare is not a significant factor. The example of Sweden where there is higher state provided childcare and less gender inequality.
Women choose to marry men who have traditional views on women’s roles.
Women experience control over their participation in the workplace, due to education and birth control.
Three types of women in the workplace;
25% of women whose main priorities are their career.
28% of women whose priorities were within the home and work would be part time to supplement the household income.
47% of women were unsure and had no specific ideas.
Evaluation
+ longitudinal study based over a long period of time
+ Post modernists would like the idea of choice
- over simplification to divide women into three distinct groups
- attitudes of work change over time
- no convincing explanation of why women are disadvantaged at work; pay, conditions, career prospects
- Structuralist , blames the victim when it might not be their fault
- Ginn et al- women’s attitudes to work shaped by wider social context; male discrimination
- Delmont (2001) methods used were large scale data survey, does this test norms or values?
- American focus , unrepresentative of Britain
Ethnicity and workplace inequality
Vertical segregation (peach 1996)
Full time average grossly wage (1995)
White £7.73 (per hour)
Indian £7.12
Black £6.88
Bangladeshi/Pakistani £6.43
Part time employment (1995)
White 7%
Indian 8%
Black 9%
Bangladeshi/Pakistani 13%
% of workers in managerial class 1996
% Chinese 17.6
% black African 14.3
% white 6.7
% Bangladeshi 5.2
% Black Caribbean 2.4
This suggests that certain ethnic minorities are breaking though the glass ceiling.
% of women in managerial class 1996
Chinese 7.6 %
Indian 4.4%
Black African 3.0%
Bangladeshi 1.8%
White 1.7%
Black Caribbean 1.0%
Horizontal segregation
60% of Bangladeshi males in work, work in the hotel and catering industry
42% of Pakistani males in employment work in manufacturing
Workers in agriculture dominated by white men
Explanations
Discrimination in the labour market; study by Brown and Gay (1984-5) in which they sent identical job applications except for the ethnicity of the applicant. They found that White applicants were most successful in getting an interview with 90%. 63% of Asian and 63% of West Indian applicants.
Evaluation
+ Clear cut conclusion
+Representative; 3 cities
+ Covert so valid
- unethical; deceit
- Were the Afro-Caribbean applicants rejected because of their educational Backgrounds?
- Dated
Underclass
The underclass withdrawing itself from the labour market as they were unwilling to work. Welfare benefits have made it easy for the underclass and has removed the incentive for men to work to support their families
Evaluation
+ Policy has been influential in both America and the UK
+ Clear cut conclusion
+distinguished the working class from the underclass
- benefits were in place before the development of the underclass
- even though benefits have been cut the number of single parents has risen
- some sociologists agree on the existence but not the cause,; structural factors like the poverty trap
Weberian
Rex and Tomlinson argued that the new commonwealth immigrants to Britain to jobs in manufacturing and service industries that were less skilled then the white men would do. There is a dual labour market where the primary labour market has high waged, high status with good market situations. The secondary labour market is the opposite, poor wages, conditions etc. Ethnic minorities recruited to the second labour market
Evaluation
+based on Census data
+reliable- statistical analysis, can be repeated if measurement process stays the same
+large sample
- not representative sample ( one area)
- Dated – 1971
- Generalised Asians; Chinese and Indians more likely to be Managerial white people.
Marxist
In a study of workers from other countries ethnic minorities faced similar problems to that suffered by ethnic minorities in Handsworth; low paid jobs , low unionised numbers. Castles and Kosack claim this is due to discrimination. Ethnic minorities form the reserve army of labour that is used when required e.g. after WWII to rebuild the country.
Evaluation
+analyse trends from many countries
+structuralists would support this view
+1950’s many first generation immigrants took the jobs white people didn’t do
-over generalised; Chinese experience the workplace very differently to other ethnic minorities
-hard to repeat other countries; need to use different measurements