Engineering Labour: Technical Workers in Comparative Perspective.

Abstract

Is the social status of an engineer the same in Britain as in the US or Japan? Engineers, often perceived as central agents of industrial capitalism, 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 economies: Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, Britain and the United States. 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 globalization and economic integration. There are additional contributions by: Boel Berner, Stephen Crawford, Kees Gispen, Kevin McCormick and Peter Whalley.