Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, The Center for Ethnographic Research presents:
Steve Viscelli, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Co-sponsored by the Center for Labor Research and Education
Long-haul trucks have been described as sweatshops on wheels. The typical long-haul trucker works the equivalent of two full-time jobs, often for little more than minimum wage. But it wasn’t always this way. Trucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States. Deregulation and collective action by employers transformed trucking’s labor markets–once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history–into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public.
This talk will explain how this massive degradation in the quality of work occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. It is based on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months spent training and working as a long-haul trucker.
Biography
Steve Viscelli (Ph.D. in Sociology, 2010, Indiana University; M.A. in Anthropology, 2002, Syracuse University; B.A. in Philosophy, 1996, Colgate University) is an economic and political sociologist. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Steve’s research focuses on work, labor market economics and economic regulation. He has a recent book with the University of California Press entitled The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream. Steve is also a Senior Fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a Fox Family Pavilion Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his academic research, Steve works with a range of public and private stakeholders to make the trucking industry safer, more efficient, and a better place to work.
Light refreshments will be served.
**Books will be available for sale and signing. Cash and credit cards accepted.
This event is free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.
For accessibility requests, including wheelchair access, please call or email one day prior to the event.