Under Construction: Work and Alienation in the Building Trades (Suny Series in Sociology at Work)

Under Construction offers a unique examination of organization and work in the construction industry. Synthesizing organizational and labor relations orientations, it develops a comprehensive sociological perspective on work relations in construction. Silver examines the effects of local market conditions, employers’ demands, and trade union activities on the daily lives of workers―skilled as well as unskilled.

The book also challenges popular myths about construction work and the building trades with analyses of construction sites, hiring practices, and workers’ reactions to the conditions of their work. Under Construction powerfully demonstrates the need for new industrial approaches by concluding with a series of practical alternatives to current practices in the industry’s housing sector.