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Proletarianization refers to the subordination of hired labour to the owners of capital. This inquiry assesses the extent of proletarianization of professional employees on the basis of a distinctive series of national surveys of the general labour force in Canada between 1982 and 2016. Non-managerial professional employees are distinguished from professionals in other class positions (i.e. professional employers, self-employed professionals, and professional managers) with whom they have been conflated in much of the prior research. The findings suggest increasing proletarianization of professional employees during this period in terms of declining job autonomy and decreasing participation in organizational decision-making, as well as increasing underemployment and more critical political attitudes. But there is also evidence of increasing qualifications and development of "general intellect" among more traditional working-class employees, as well as even more extensive underemployment. Implications of convergence between the proletarianization of professional employees, as a "new working class," and the qualifications and perceived working conditions of other non-managerial hired labour in emergent "knowledge economies" are discussed. More careful distinctions between non-managerial professional employees and professionals in other class positions in future studies are recommended.

The aim: to rejuvenate study and understanding of class relations in advanced capitalism. The book is an original synthesis of theorizing about class grounded in the production process, revealing a distinct tripartite class structure of owners, managers and non-managerial workers. Changes since the 1980s are traced and significant increases of non-managerial professional employees and middle managers are documented beyond any prior empirical research. Higher levels of oppositional and revolutionary class consciousness are conceptualized in terms of support for rights of capital and labour, and the extent of their expression in employed labour forces is estimated in terms only previously attempted briefly in the wake of 1960s protest movements. Connections between objective class positions and levels of class consciousness are analyzed in unprecedented depth; the solidary hegemonic consciousness of corporate capitalists, declining pro-capital oppositional consciousness among other employers and upper managers, and the pro-labour oppositional consciousness of pluralities of non-managerial workers (including professional employees) are all documented more fully than in prior studies. Strategic connections between class, class consciousness and issues of poverty and global warming are identified. Contending class forces’ engagement in actions toward an imminent system tipping point are uniquely traced. Main sources of evidence are all the national surveys in G7 and Nordic countries in the 1980s that provide relevant data, and the author’s unique Canadian national surveys in 2004, 2010 and 2016, supplemented by interviews with class leaders. A website encourages further class-based studies of advanced capitalism with similar measures to aid ecological sustainability and economic democracy. --Publisher's description (WorldCat record)

This study analyzes the results of a 2010 national survey of Canadian non-managerial employees' membership and interest in worker organizations. This is the first general survey to include associations as well as unions. Profiles of membership and interest in unions and associations are presented, then demographic, organizational and attitudinal factors related to interest in joining these worker organizations are examined. The findings suggest that, in spite of some recent decline in union density, most Canadian non-managerial workers who are interested in collective representation are members of at least one of these organizations. The strongest interest in joining is expressed by those who are highly educated, poorly paid and feel underemployed-even if allowed some workplace "voice". The limited prior focus on unions needs to be expanded to attend to both unions and associations as worker-controlled vehicles of representation, particularly to identify strategic alliances with the growing numbers of professional employees.

This research has focused on re-analyzing data from previous large-scale Canadian surveys that include information on education and training activities and union status, as well as other demographic and organizational factors, most prominently the 1993 and 1997 Adult Education and Training Surveys. In contrast to some recent studies, we find that union status has had consistent positive individual-level effects in Canada on participation in adult education courses and employer-sponsored courses in general, and especially for women union members. In addition, our analysis of data from the 1998 national survey on informal learning finds that in this much more extensive form of learning, unionized workers are significantly more likely than non-unionized workers to participate in more directly empowering forms of knowledge including learning about workers’ rights and political issues.

In the 1980s, following decades of booming business, the global steel industry went into a precipitous decline, which necessitated significant restructuring. Management demanded workers' increased participation in evermore temporary and insecure labour. Engaging the workers at the flagship Stelco plant in Hamilton, the authors document new management strategies and the responses of unionized workforces to them. These investigations provide valuable insights into the dramatic changes occurring within the Canadian steel industry. --Publisher's description

This book offers an original contribution to understanding an often-ignored aspect of our knowledge society and the much-heralded ‘knowledge-based economy.’ It decisively explodes the dual myths that working-class adults have inferior learning capacities and that talented youths naturally leave blue-collar careers. Livingstone and Sawchuk document the genuine learning practices of working-class people in unprecedented detail, using richly textured accounts of prior school experiences; current adult education course participation; and a wide array of learning resources in paid workplaces, households, and community settings. The authors criticize dominant theories of learning and work and develop an alternative explanation of working-class adult learning. Their analysis, grounded in the specific practices of everyday life, pays careful attention to the ways in which differential economic power, labor processes, sectoral contexts, union cultures, and access to organized educational resources shape individual and collective learning activities. The book also provides a reflective discussion of research processes suitable for democratic knowledge production in partnership with workers and their organizations, as well as workers' own practical recommendations for changes in learning and work relations. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction: Dimensions of learning and work in the knowledge society -- Pt. 1. Researching learning and work. Starting with Workers and Researching the "Hard Way" / with D'Arcy Martin -- Beyond cultural capital theories: Hidden dimensions of working-class learning. Pt. 2. Case studies.  Auto workers: Lean manufacturing and rich learning / with Reuben Roth -- Building a workers' learning Culture in the Chemical Industry -- Learning, Restructuring and job segregation at a community college -- Divisions of labour / Divisions of learning in a small parts manufacturer -- Garment workers: learning under disruption / with Clara Morgan. Pt. 3. Comparative perspectives across case studies. Household and community-based learning: Learning cultures and class differences beyond paid work -- Surfacing the hidden dimension of the knowledge society: the struggle for knowledge across differences. Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-309) and index.

Household work is an essential part of many people's lives, yet all too often it is rendered invisible. More Than It Seems aims not only to make this vitally important work visible, but also to reconsider it as a source of learning. Drawing on a large study conducted in Canada, the authors consider diverse forms of household work, including carework. They highlight the experiences of people at the margins — including immigrants, Aboriginal women, people with disabilities, nannies, and people who provide and receive care — and analyze those experiences through the prism of lifelong learning theory. The result is a pioneering work that challenges our assumptions about both household work and lifelong learning. -- Publisher's description. Contents: Foreword / Patricia Gouthro -- Introduction: More Than It Seems: Household Work and Lifelong Learning / Patrizia Albanese -- What Is Housework? / Margrit Eichler -- Learning through Household Work / Margrit Eichler with Ann Matthews -- Portrait: Dorica -- Encounters with the Self: Disability and the Many Dimensions of Self-Care / Ann Matthews -- Portrait: Fang -- "Have You Had Your Meal Yet?": Chinese Immigrants, Food-related Household Work and Informal Learning / Lichun Willa Liu -- Portrait: Mithreal -- Choreographing Care: Learning through Unpaid Carework / Susan Ferguson and Margrit Eichler -- Portrait: Dee -- The Case of Nannies: Shifting Unpaid Work onto Paid Work / Nicky Hyndman -- Conclusions / Patrizia Albanese -- Appendix 1: Methodological Overview / Ann Matthews -- Appendix 2: The WALL Project / D.W. Livingston -- Appendix 3: Mothers Are Women (MAW) / Kathryn Spracklin.