At 09:18 PM 1/4/2006, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>--- Bitch | Lab <info at pulpculture.org> wrote:
>
> > I don't see the problem. If we want to understand
> > why class consciousness
> > isn't prominent why not look at the actually social
> > interactions of
> > people doing what they do at least 40 hours a week?
>
>
>I generally agree with what you say but I have a few
>comments.
>
>1. The fact that service workers use management as a
>"resource" to protect themselves from customers does
>not explain anti-unionism; unlike the production work,
>the nature of service work is such that it creates a
>substantial potential for conflict regardless of
>social status or politics of the sides involved; for
>example service work involved a great deal of conflic
>with customers in x_Soveit bloc countries as weel, but
>over there, the wrokers had a decidedly "upper hand"
>and customers were regularly abused; so the status
>differences between workers and customers you
>describe in your examples does not explain these
>conflicts - they exist even when the status positions
>are reversed or are not an issue. I think what
>explain the lack of unionization in service
>occupations is that these tend to be treaded as
>"temporary jobs" and people do not want to take risks
>when they think (or hope) to get a different job.
>
>2. Cultural identities, including those basd on gender
>and race, that cut across class lines indeed are an
>obstancle in forming working class consciousness and
>national labor movement. Skocpol makes that argument
>when contrasting US and Europe (_Protecting Soldiers
>and Mothers_). But regardless of hom much we 9or at
>least I) despise "identity politics" it is here to
>stay for good. The reason is very simple, people want
>to identify themselves as the "bottom runk of society"
>even if they are such a runk. They aspire for
>somehting better. And when various industries are in
>the position to cater to these aspirations, you
>inevitably have identity politics big time. It
>matters little that it is mostly only in people's
>heads - but so is money.
>
>3. Given the above, the trick is is not to build
>class consciousness from the "bottom up" at the
>micro-level, i.e. by persuading various identity
>groups to "transcend" their identities and show a
>positive attitude toward fellow workers, but rather to
>build it from "above" or rather from a meta-level.
>That means letting the identity politics run it
>scourse and develop micro-sstructural solidarity ties
>(i.e. alleginace to narrowly defined identity groups),
>because that is inevitable anyway, given the nature of
>our society. The trick is to connect the selected
>identity groups that have a progressive potnetial into
>a nation-wide network that coordinate political
>activities of these micro-groups at a "meta" level.
> >From that point of view, the narrower the group
>identity the better, becaouse it allows a better
>selection to the network. Broadly defined identity
>groups will make it difficult to keep reactionary or
>dysfunctional elements out.
>
>Wojtek
>
>
>
>
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>
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