Craft, Class and Control

This book charts the decline of the British shipbuilding industry from 1930 to the present. Concentrating on Wearside, it describes how the town had its livelihood extinguished by Conservative government policy in 1988. It looks at the craft division of labour and the ways in which both capital and labour have defended this system of production in the past. Dealing with questions of changing identity, community, orientations and values of shop floor workers, "Craft, Class and Control" holds wide implications on the nature of the working class. This historical account of the relationship between community and industry aims to avoid putting the viewpoints of subjects into a pre-formulated theoretical scheme, and relates the sociological issues of this changing community to the wider debate about the nature of the working class. The book is intended for undergraduates and graduates studying the sociology of industry.