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Black Collar Work: The Meaning of Work Among African-American Temp Workers
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Black Collar Work:
The Meaning of Work Among African-American Temp Workers
By
Brian L. Zirkle
Department of Sociology
University of Kansas
Abstract
In this paper, I examine the ways in which poor African-American temporary workers construct their work as meaningful and integrate it into their broader life experiences. Temp work, while unstable and generally low paying, is viewed as a means of gaining access into the formal economy in which they have been historically marginalized. Through temp work, participants not only gain the feeling of being productive members of society, but gain economic resources that they can use to perform other social roles that are important to them, including that of parent and provider. Yet this construction of the meaning of work is built upon lowered expectations of what work can be, and ultimately enmeshes these workers in contradictory sets of social relations that they perceive as an escape from their impoverished living conditions, but ultimately reinforce the racial and socioeconomic inequalities from which these conditions are created.
Introduction
The restructuring of American economy following the recession of the 1970's has left a
significant and lasting mark on the organization of work within American workplaces. One of
these changes has been the incorporation of a growing number of contingent workers into the
labor processes within a variety of blue, white, and ## email not listed ## collar industries. In 1999, as much as
30% of the American workforce could be defined as contingent, including part-time workers,
seasonal workers, day-labor workers, temporary workers, and independent contractors (Frenkel,
et al., 1999). This increase in contingent work has led to an investigation on the impacts of
contingency on workers themselves. Sennett (1998), for instance, argued that contingent work
arrangements result in the ## email not listed ## of the moral character of workers engaged in these
arrangements. In this study, I address the complicated and often contradictory significance of
temporary employment for minority, particularly African-American, ## email not listed ## workers. Many of
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Black Collar Work:
The Meaning of Work Among African-American Temp Workers
By
Brian L. Zirkle
Department of Sociology
University of Kansas
Abstract
In this paper, I examine the ways in which poor African-American temporary workers construct
their work as meaningful and integrate it into their broader life experiences. Temp work, while
unstable and generally low paying, is viewed as a means of gaining access into the formal
economy in which they have been historically marginalized. Through temp work, participants
not only gain the feeling of being productive members of society, but gain economic resources
that they can use to perform other social roles that are important to them, including that of
parent and provider. Yet this construction of the meaning of work is built upon lowered
expectations of what work can be, and ultimately enmeshes these workers in contradictory sets
of social relations that they perceive as an escape from their impoverished living conditions, but
ultimately reinforce the racial and socioeconomic inequalities from which these conditions are
created.
Introduction
The restructuring of American economy following the recession of the 1970's has left a
significant and lasting mark on the organization of work within American workplaces. One of
these changes has been the incorporation of a growing number of contingent workers into the
labor processes within a variety of blue, white, and ## email not listed ## collar industries. In 1999, as much as
30% of the American workforce could be defined as contingent, including part-time workers,
seasonal workers, day-labor workers, temporary workers, and independent contractors (Frenkel,
et al., 1999). This increase in contingent work has led to an investigation on the impacts of
contingency on workers themselves. Sennett (1998), for instance, argued that contingent work
arrangements result in the ## email not listed ## of the moral character of workers engaged in these
arrangements. In this study, I address the complicated and often contradictory significance of
temporary employment for minority, particularly African-American, ## email not listed ## workers. Many of
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