Talk Is Cheap
The Value of Language in the World Economy-Illustrations from the United States and Quebec
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2274452 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lourdes Gouveia (University of Nebraska at Omaha), Mark O Rousseau (University of Nebraska at Omaha) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 156-180 |
| Publication date | 1995-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1995.tb00411.x |
| OpenAlex | W2055107665 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 32 |
Global economic restructuring modifies the traditional material value of language skills and stands to increasingly fragment labor along class and ethnic lines. Language deskilling, brought about by the international mobility of capital and technological change, has diminished the value of traditionally skilled labor. Yet labor, though weakened economically and politically, is not powerless. Two contrasting instances, examined through a common political-economic perspective, are considered: the U.S. meatpacking industry as exemplified in a Lexington, Nebraska, plant and the labor movement in the national economy of Quebec. These two cases illustrate the unity and diversity found in the contingent and uncertain process of global economic change. The Lexington example illustrates the process by which the language abilities of both immigrant and indigenous labor have been successfully deskilled. The Quebec instance illustrates the capacity of labor to utilize a common language and culture as a mobilization resource to diminish the devaluation of language and secure material gains. Possible future directions of change are considered in each instance
Capital (architecture) · Capitalism · Commodity · Deskilling · Devaluation · Diversity (politics) · Economic restructuring · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Exchange value · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Restructuring · Sociology · Surplus value · Value (mathematics) · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Multilingual Education and Policy
Structuring Diversity
Restructuring the world economy
Frontiers in social movement theory
The second industrial divide
The New Era of Global Competition
American Indian Ethnic Renewal
The Global Restructuring of Agro-Food Systems
English Language Ability and the Labor Market Opportunities of Hispanic and East Asian Immigrant Men
From Columbus to ConAgra
Production, power and world order
Falling from Grace
Immigrant America
The Mobility of Labor and Capital
English Language Proficiency and the Earnings of Young Immigrants in U.S. Labor Markets
State Capitalism
Regionalism and Regional Devolution in Comparative Perspective
Newcomers in the Workplace
Global Capitalism
Contemporary Quebec and the United States, 1960-1985
The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement
The Internationalisation of the State
Mexican Migration and the Social Space of Postmodernism
Midwestern Agriculture in Us Fordism
Europe
Beyond Nationalism, Beyond Protectionism
The economics of linguistic exchanges
When Talk Isn't Cheap
Skill
The class bases of the Quebec independence movement
Negritude, the Talmudic tradition and the intellectual performance of Blacks and Jews
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,12 |
| Citation span | 2000 - 2002 (3) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |