Working Construction - by Kris Paap (Paperback)

About the Book

Kris Paap worked for nearly three years as a carpenter's apprentice on a variety of jobsites, closely observing her colleagues' habits, expressions, and attitudes. As a woman in an overwhelmingly male--and stereotypically "macho"--profession, Paap uses...

Book Synopsis

Kris Paap worked for nearly three years as a carpenter's apprentice on a variety of jobsites, closely observing her colleagues' habits, expressions, and attitudes. As a woman in an overwhelmingly male--and stereotypically "macho"--profession, Paap uses her experiences to reveal the ways that gender, class, and race interact in the construction industry. She shows how the stereotypes of construction workers and their overt displays of sexism, racism, physical strength, and homophobia are not "just how they are," but rather culturally and structurally mandated enactments of what it means to be a man--and a worker--in America.The significance of these worker performances is particularly clear in relation to occupational safety: when the pressures for demonstrating physical masculinity are combined with a lack of protection from firing, workers are forced to ignore safety procedures in order to prove--whether male or female--that they are "man enough" to do the job. Thus these mandated performances have real, and sometimes deadly, consequences for individuals, the entire working class, and the strength of the union movement.Paap concludes that machismo separates the white male construction workers from their natural political allies, increases their risks on the job, plays to management's interests, lowers their overall social status, and undercuts the effectiveness of their union.

Review Quotes

"I don't think I've ever seen a book that so carefully understood how issues of race, class, and gender are affected by the collapse of union protection and the increased vulnerability of workers. In a brilliant insight, Kris Paap regards workers' heightened awareness of masculinity and whiteness as a kind of compensation for de-skilling, loss of union protection, and increased vulnerability."

"Kris Paap combines a rich ethnographic account of a personal work experience with sociological insight about gender, race, class, and power. Paap's book makes an original and valuable contribution to our understanding of how worksites and industry practices help to produce a certain type of working-class masculinity."

About the Author

Kris Paap is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University and is on the faculty at the SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, New York.