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- Holmér, Gunnel, 1955-
(författare)
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Flaskor på löpande band : Arbete och arbetskraftsrekrytering vid Surte glasbruk 1943-1978
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation considers how the transition from craft manufacture to mechanized glass production affected the organization of work and the consequences for the recruitment of labour. Based on gender and ethnicity, the dissertation studies the composition of the workforce, the significance of qualifications, and differences in career paths and length of stay have been investigated at Surte glassworks 1943–1978. Charles Tilly’s theory of durable inequality is applied to analyse whether primarily gender and ethnicity had any effect on the assignment of tasks and on discrimination. In conclusion, the results from Surte are compared with conditions at Kosta glassworks. Whereas Surte’s specialty was machine-made bottles, Kosta was geared to craft production of utility glass and art glass.After mechanization at Surte, machine-tenders were counted among the most qualified category, instead of the glass-blowers who had previously been in demand. Manufacture at a pace regulated by machines led to more routine chores such as inspection and packaging. At Kosta, with its focus on craft, glass-blowers still had the highest positions and had learned glass-blowing in the traditional way through practical exercise. At neither Surte nor Kosta did women have any opportunity to receive comparable training.After the Second World War there was a growing need for labour at both Surte and Kosta, and to keep production going the main alternative was foreign labour. The peak was reached in the 1960s, and of roughly 660 collectively employed workers at Surte in November 1964, almost 40% were immigrants, chiefly from Finland. Kosta at the same time, with just under 330 employees, had slightly under 10% foreign workers, mainly from Greece. Kosta attracted a number of skilled glass-workers from abroad, but the majority of immigrants there, and all those at Surte, lacked experience of glass manufactureAt neither Surte nor Kosta, with their different production methods, is there any evidence of durable inequality based on ethnicity. The assignment of tasks was guided rather by the functions in demand at the companies and by the applicants’ qualifications. Internal training and career opportunities were open to all male workers, regardless of which country they came from. On the other hand, the gender division of labour at both glassworks created durable inequality for all women regardless of nationality.
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