> Then, of course, there is the gender issue
Here's an important study by Andrew W. Jones, "Caring Labor and Class Consciousness: The Class Dynamics of Gendered Work" (Sociological Forum, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2001):
<blockquote>Previous research on class consciousness has not examined the gendered nature of paid labor. Paid caring labor -- work that involves the direct provision of care to clients or customers -- now comprises 20% of the labor force. This is work that tends to place workers in conflict with the goals of management. The conflict between caring values and exchange values may lead workers to greater levels of class consciousness. I use national survey data to examine whether workers in caring labor occupations are more class conscious than other workers. Results indicate that caring laborers are more likely to be pro-working-class conscious than other workers after controlling for class position, income, education, government and nonprofit sectors, sex, and race. Workers in high intensity caring jobs are especially likely to be class conscious. This suggests that, at crucial points, the logic of caring and the logic of commodification are at odds. </blockquote>
The teachers strike in British Columbia is a good example of the conflict identified by Jones: the conflict between the logic of caring and the logic of commodification. The strike was about many things -- the right to strike (against the law that makes strikes of "essential service" workers illegal and classifies teachers among "essential service" workers), fight against the wage freeze, etc. -- but, among other things, it was also about the quality of service that teachers are enabled to provide: "our right to bargain learning and working conditions," as Bill Hood, a Vancouver teacher and picket captain put it (cf. <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/rosen201005.html>).
I'd venture to say that women have a higher level of class consciousness than men (demonstrated by their voting patterns, responses to opinion polls, etc.) because they are often employed to provide "caring labor" -- education, nursing, etc. -- at odds with the logic of commodification. Caring labor puts workers in an antagonistic relation to clients and customers -- teachers, for instance, can be assaulted by violent students, confront parental complaints, etc. -- but that doesn't stop them from fighting for not only their sectoral interests (higher wages) but also for working- class interests (better education).
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>