I am a Scaffolder
Constructing Safety Knowledge and Machismo in 'Dirty Work
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2374834 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ken Kamoche (0000-0002-9529-0180, Nottingham University Business School, UK, corresponding author), Kuok Kei Law (0000-0001-9535-6429, NUCB Business School, Japan) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 636-656 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Work Employment and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09500170241281032 |
| OpenAlex | W4403686696 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 52 |
This article investigates how Hong Kong scaffolders navigate and make sense of everyday dangerous work which is stigmatized in a highly aspirational society. With the theoretical lens of 'dirty work', we examine what attracts the scaffolders into the occupation, how they perceive and navigate risk, and how they construct the knowledge that enables them to function safely as skilled craftsmen. We found that the sector attracts young men from disadvantaged backgrounds and with links to the criminal underworld, who respond to social stigma by constructing an identity of intrepid performers and enacting unsafe high-risk activities and brinkmanship. Yet, their traditional knowledge and practices now face obsolescence due to pressure to standardize safety training and practice, and also due to an internal crisis of occupational legitimacy. This article contributes to our understanding of the analytical lens of 'dirty work' in macho cultures
Operations management · Sociology · Work (physics · Work safety · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Engineering · Management and Organizational Studies · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Mechanical Engineering
Social psychology at the crossroads
Learning to Labour
Sensible Knowledge and Practice-based Learning
Surviving the Rigs'
Resistance Through Consent?
Finding Theory–Method Fit
Better Stories, Not Better Constructs, to Generate Better Theory
Being Regimented'
Building Theories from Case Study Research
Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research
Identity Regulation as Organizational Control
Foucault’s Care of the Self
Extreme work/normal work
Governing workplace safety through apparatuses
Real Men are Tough Guys”
Congruence work in stigmatized occupations
Foucault on the Care of the Self as an Ethical Project and a Spiritual Goal
Talent management, identity construction and the burden of elitism
Leveraging functionality in safety routines
Overcoming dysfunctional momentum
Socially constructing safety
Learning the Trade
Discipline and Punish
Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists
Qualitative Data Analysis
The Ethic of Care for the Self as a Practice of Freedom
I've Got Your Back
Can Dirty Work be Satisfying? A Mixed Method Study of Workers Doing Dirty Jobs
Trading health for money
Sacrifice and distinction in dirty work
Subjectivity and the Labour Process
Work Identity in Crisis? Rethinking the Problem of Attachment and Loss at Work
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |