Unskilled blue collar workers: Bourgeois and/or authoritarian? Results from a small scale survey in Belgium
Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Unskilled blue collar workers: Bourgeois and/or authoritarian? Results from a small scale survey in Belgium | |
| Creator | De Witte, Hans | |
| Description | In this article, two contrasting theories on the attitudes of unskilled blue collar workers are confronted: the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis and the hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’. The ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis states that blue collar workersadopted the attitudes (and life style) of white collar workers, from whom they can no longer be distinguished. Lipset’s hypothesis of the ‘authoritarianism of the working class’, on the other hand, states that blue collar workers more strongly endorse a conservative attitude on socio-cultural matters and a progressive stand concerning socio-economic issues. Both hypotheses are tested using data from a small scale survey (N = 135) among unskilled blue collar workers and lower- and mid-level white collar workers from different large companies in the region of Leuven, Belgium. The results indicate that the interviewed unskilled blue collar workers still hold a set of attitudes that distinguishes them from the interviewed white collar workers. So, the ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis was refuted. Instead, the unskilled blue collar workers were more conservative on a socio-cultural level, and more progressive concerning socio-economic issues. These results are in line with Lipset’s ‘authoritarianism of the working class’ hypothesis. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2007-04-11 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/td.v3i2.329 | |
| Source | The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa; Vol 3, No 2 (2007); 25 pages 2415-2005 1817-4434 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://td-sa.net/index.php/td/article/view/329/140
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