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Crafting a Future: How Union Electricians Experience and Respond to Deskilling, Job Degradation, and Redundancy

Kosla, Martin T.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305993012

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Sociology.
Despite a shift toward the knowledge and service sectors, research shows that blue collar labor remains an important facet of the U.S. economic system. Skilled blue collar labor offers workers extrinsically and intrinsically rewarding work which is largely immune from globalization. However, recent research has failed to address the challenges craft workers face from deskilling, degradation and redundancy and, most importantly, the agency of workers in responding to these structural challenges. Using semi-structured interviews and analyses of various official and unofficial documents, this analysis provides a case study of electrical construction workers that examines the challenges to craftwork and how workers respond to them. Findings indicate that workers respond to these processes in a variety of ways including retraining, expanding their jurisdiction and developing new business strategies. But these strategies have been mixed in their effectiveness in solving these challenges. Findings also reveal that maintaining the rewarding nature of craftwork will depend on the effectiveness of worker responses to these challenges and structural conditions which will either support or oppose these measures.
Steven Lopez (Advisor)
Rachel Dwyer (Committee Member)
Randy Hodson (Committee Member)
64 p.
Sociology
craft work; electricians; skilled labor; blue collar; deskilling; degradation; redundancy; union revitalization; unions

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kosla, M. T. (2011). Crafting a Future: How Union Electricians Experience and Respond to Deskilling, Job Degradation, and Redundancy [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305993012

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kosla, Martin. Crafting a Future: How Union Electricians Experience and Respond to Deskilling, Job Degradation, and Redundancy. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305993012.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kosla, Martin. "Crafting a Future: How Union Electricians Experience and Respond to Deskilling, Job Degradation, and Redundancy." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305993012

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1305993012
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.