Engineering Labour: Technical Workers in Comparative Perspective

by Boel Berner, Chris Smith

Engineers, often perceived as central agents of industrial capitalism, are thought to be the same in all capitalist societies, occupying roughly the same social status and performing similar functions in the capitalist enterprise. What the essays in this volume reveal, however, is that engineers are trained and organized quite distinctly in different national contexts. The book includes case studies of engineers in six major industrial Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, Britain and the United States. Through a comparison of these six cases, the authors develop an approach to national differences which both retains the place of historical diversity in the experience of capitalism and accommodates the forces of convergence from increasing globalisation and economic integration. Contributions Boel Berner, Stephen Crawford, Kees Gispen, Kevin McCormick and Peter Whalley.

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Boel Berner, sociologist and historian, is professor at the Department of Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, Sweden. Her research has focused on the identities and practices of technical experts, in work, education and in relation to risk, and on questions of gender and technology. Her most recent books in English are Gendered Practices (ed. 1996) and Manoeuvring in an Environment of Uncertainty (ed. with Per Trulsson, 2000)