Theories of Skill and Class Structure
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3392897 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R Penn (0000-0003-0206-422X, Lancaster University Ghana, corresponding author), R D Penn (Department of Sociology University of Lancaster) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 22-38 |
| Publication date | 1983-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-954x.1983.tb00678.x |
| OpenAlex | W1999688419 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 20 |
This paper notes an increased interest in issues of skill and class structure evident amongst both Marxist and non-Marxist sociologists. It examines three questions in this area. Firstly, what theories are available to sociologists? How adequate are they, particularly for an understanding of trends in manual work in Britain? Finally, what improvements can be suggested? Two dominant grand-theoretical approaches, post-industrialism and Marxism, are analysed Post-industrialist theories of 'skilling' are rejected as empirically implausible and Marxist versions of 'deskilling' rejected on theoretical and empirical grounds. None the less, a secular decline in levels of training as measured by length of apprenticeships is noted, but the question of deskilling requires further research. A model of the relationships of skilled trades unions and capitalist employers under different local labour market conditions is suggested which, despite its simplicity, incorporates marked improvements upon the Marxist models that have been popular recently. In particular, it is strongly argued that an image of an asymmetric balance of forces adds considerably to an understanding of the variable relations between capital and skilled labour in Britain
Apprenticeship · Capital (architecture) · Class (philosophy) · Deskilling · Economics · Epistemology · Marxist philosophy · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Positive economics · Simplicity · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics) · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Political Economy and Marxism
Trade union organization and skill in the cotton and engineering industries in Britain, 1850–1960
The Employment and Skill Implications of the Adoption of New Technology
Deskilling or Enskilling
The development of skilled work in the British coal mining industry, 1870–1985
Structural Transformations in the British Class Structure
Social Harmony and the Small Firm
Culture et structuration des opinions politiques des travailleurs du papier
Controlling Police Work
What is Skill
The theory of capitalist development
The Affluent worker in the class structure
Schooling the Smash Street Kids
The class structure of the advanced societies.
The affluent worker
An Essay on Marxian Economics.
Labor and Monopoly Capital
The Social Analysis of Class Structure
On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation
In Search of the New Working Class
Recruitment to Skilled Trades
The Social Analysis of Class Structure
Post-Industrial Society
Responsible Autonomy Versus Direct Control Over the Labour Process
Skill and the English Working Class, 1870-1914
Apprenticeship
Skill, Craft and Class
Industry and Labour
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,21 |
| Citation span | 1983 - 2015 (33) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |