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E-book Men in Manual Occupations : Changing Lives in Times of Change

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Penilaian

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After decades of skills policy centred on getting as many young people as possible through higher education, there is now an emerging shortage of skilled workers in many countries. The question of how to achieve the right balance between types of work in a society is a question which transcends national borders and, as this book will show, one that requires an understand-ing of the interrelation between history and biography.Public debate and the research literature give the impression that manual work is somehow the work of yesterday, requiring competencies that are no longer necessary in today’s “post-industrial knowledge society”. At the same time, many people, young men in particular, have no interest in “rotting in an office” (Vogt, 2007). Prolonged periods of study are not viable for all young people, and not all buy into the idea that higher education necessarily leads to more interesting jobs. The task of understanding the life course processes behind different educational outcomes is only becoming more important in the current context of increasing social inequality.This book challenges received thinking, and casts doubt on beliefs and practices that have a long history in Western societies. It does so by presenting novel evidence on the lives and thoughts of men skilled in male-dominated manual occupations. Detailed exploration of the opportunities and constraints in the lives of these individuals, form the basis for a critical discussion of recent historical trends. The heart of the book is comprised of extracts from interviews, in which workers, in their own vivid and vig-orous language, express what academic critics have previously tried to con-vey in more abstract terms. Their experiences and perspectives concerning work, knowledge and education are very different from those commonly expressed in public debate and research. The book investigates the following main questionsIn what ways have the approaches to work and education of men skilled in male-dominated manual occupations 1) changed over historical time and 2) developed over the life course.These questions are investigated through an empirical examination of men skilled as bricklayers, builders, plumbers, electricians, industrial mechanics, platers and industrial plumbers. Contrary to rhetoric about the emergence and arrival of “the post-industrial knowledge society”, workers skilled in these trades continue to perform valuable, indeed essential, functions in society. But manual employment has long been a young man’s game, and can have harsh physical effects on the body over the life course.As definitions of merit have become increasingly narrow, the life stories in this book alert us to often unnoticed exclusionary consequences of ongoing social change. Though the growth in formal education in the post-war period has undoubtedly created great opportunities for many, for others it has created rigid barriers to upward mobility across the life course. As ‘merit’ increasingly becomes defined as acquisition of theoretical knowledge through higher edu-cation, society risks a tremendous waste of talent.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

301 CHE m

Penerbit

: Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP (Nordic Open Access Scholarly Publishing)., 2017

Deskripsi Fisik

264 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9788202530945

Klasifikasi

301

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Sociology and Anthropology, Society

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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