Original Research
Unskilled blue collar workers: Bourgeois and/or authoritarian? Results from a small scale survey in Belgium
Submitted: 11 March 2016 | Published: 11 April 2007
About the author(s)
Hans De Witte, Universiteit Leuven, BelgiumFull Text:
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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 workers
adopted 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.
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Crossref Citations
1. Job demands-resources and early retirement intention: Differences between blue-and white-collar workers
Bert Schreurs, Hetty Van Emmerik, Nele De Cuyper, Guy Notelaers, Hans De Witte
Economic and Industrial Democracy vol: 32 issue: 1 first page: 47 year: 2011
doi: 10.1177/0143831X10365931