The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class and Immigration, 1992-1993

The purpose of this study was to explore how White and Black working-class men construct their sense of self-worth, and how they perceive social hierarchy by interpreting differences between themselves and others. Interviews were conducted with 150 lower-middle class men. Thirty blue-collar workers from each of four groups were interviewed: White American workers, Black American workers, French White workers, and North African Immigrant workers living in France. These were supplemented with 30 interviews with lower-status white-collar workers in both France and the United States. In order to be part of the working class sample, participants had to (1) be employed in blue-collar or lower-status white-collar jobs; (2) have a high-school but not college degree; (3) supervise no more than 10 people, if any; (4) show continuous full-time participation in the labor force for at least five years; (5) describe themselves as Black or White for the United States; (6) have resided in the study area for at least five years; (7) be a native of the United States, France, Morocco, Tunisia, or Algeria; and (8) be a man between the ages of 25 and 65, in order to keep constant various socio-demographic variations such as place of birth and gender. All immigrants in America and children of North African immigrants (considered French citizens) were excluded, also to keep the socio-demographic dimensions constant. The interviews were approximately two hours long. Each interview was tape-recorded and conducted at a time and place chosen by both the participant and the principal investigator. Towns that included large numbers of working class individuals were identified. Names were sampled randomly from the phone books for these towns, and individuals were sent a letter of introduction. A short phone interview was conducted to ascertain eligibility and willingness to participate. Variables assessed included participants' definitions of worthy and less worthy persons; descriptions of associates; superiority and inferiority in relation to different types of people; descriptions of people that evoked hostility, indifference, or sympathy; and negative and positive traits of coworkers and acquaintances. One goal of this study was to determine the labels participants used to describe people whom they considered to be above or below themselves. Participants were also asked to describe their perceptions of cultural traits that are most valued in the workplace, child-rearing values, and the meanings assigned to each value. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (original record paper data, and audiotape data for this study). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data. A comparison study conducted in the late 1980's by Lamont with American and French White upper-middle class participants is also archived at the Murray Archive (Log# 00133). Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 334 audio files available.