Work in Market and Industrial Societies

Edited by Herbert Applebaum

Subjects: Anthropology Of Work
Series: SUNY series in the Anthropology of Work
Paperback : 9780873958110, 315 pages, June 1984
Hardcover : 9780873958103, 315 pages, June 1984

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Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Theoretical Introduction
Herbert Applebaum

I Introduction: Factory Work
1. Lordstown: Work in an American Factory
Barbara Garson
2. British Factory: Japanese Factory
Ronald Dore
3. Workers and Factories in India
Richard D. Lambert
4. Work in a Swedish Factory
Goran Palm

II Introduction: White-Collar Work
5. Insurance: A Clerical Work Factory
Maarten de Kadt
6. For Harmony and Strength: Japanese Bank Workers
Thomas P. Rohlen

III Introduction: Dangerous Occupations—Construction Work, Longshore Work, Fire Fighting, Mining
7. A Study of High Steel Ironworkers' Reactions to Fear and Danger
Jack Haas
8. The Portland Longshoreman
William W. Pilcher
9. Good Fire/Bad Night: District of Columbia Fire Fighters
Robert McCarl
10. We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us: Bolivian Mine Workers
June Nash

IV Introduction: Agricultural Work
11. Small-Scale Farmers
John A. Young
12. Monologues of Migrant Agricultural Workers
William H. Frieland and Dorothy Nelkin
13. United States Farm Women
Elise Boulding

V Introduction: Fishing Work
14. Hard Work and Competition in the Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery
Marc L. Miller and Jeffrey C. Johnson
15. Work Organization in Modern Fishing
James L. Norr and Kathleen L. Norr

VI Introduction: Railroad Work
16. Hoghead: The American Locomotive Engineer
Frederick C. Gamst
17. The British Railway Worker As Compared with Architects
Graeme Salaman

VII Introduction: Garbage Collectors
18. San Francisco Garbage Collectors
Stewart E. Perry

Bibliography
Index

Description

It's a living! That fact, no one can deny. Yet the significance of work—productive activity which alters the physical environment to meet human needs—goes far beyond the paycheck. Work involves, among other things, embracing a set of roles and beliefs, mastering skills and knowledge, and behaving in ways considered appropriate for the achievement of a desired level of productivity and quality.

This book is an informative and highly readable global survey of the various aspects of work in market and industrial societies. Its extensive general introduction and the seven section introductions discuss the role of work in society and the problems and satisfactions associated with working. The book's eighteen chapters, written by well-known specialists, spotlight characteristics which give each occupation its distinctive cultural identification. Featured in this compendium of work and working are factory workers, white collar employees, construction personnel, farmers and migrant workers, miners, railroaders, longshoremen, sanitation workers, firefighters, and fishermen.

Herbert Applebaum is the editor of Work in Non-Market and Transitional Societies, also published by the SUNY Press. Dr. Applebaum also edits the Anthropology of Work Review. Among his previous publications is the highly acclaimed Royal Blue: The Culture of Construction Workers.