CHAPTER EIGHT- Manufacturing, Mining, and Agriculture (Part 1)
(Outline Prepared by E. Gough)
 
 

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Links: American Sociological Association Society for Applied Sociology National Right to Work Organization AFL-CIO

Economic activity occurs in three principal sectors: extractive, manufacturing, and services. Extractive industries like agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining remove a product from the environment. Manufacturing turns these products into more useful forms. Services include financial and accounting, medicine, entertainment and recreation, education, government administration and social welfare.

Our society is often labeled as postindustrial, although we have not moved beyond being an industrial society. We instead are able to produce more with fewer workers. This is referred to as an advanced industrial society with a small but highly productive extractive sector and a growing service sector.

Agriculture

Agricultural productivity drastically increased in the twentieth century; machinery, fertilizers and improved strains of crops and grains have increased productivity and reduced the number of workers needed. Large mechanized producers are replacing the smaller farmers of yesteryear.

Rising fuel and credit prices have increased the costs of production as farm prices fall. Only farmers with below-average production costs can survive in such a market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that by 2000 over 75% of the nation’s food supply would be provided by only 50,000 farms.

Technological advanced can greatly help or harm farms. They can

increase yield, but many are not able to afford this new technology or compete with those that have it. Weather patterns, infestations and diseases al cause dramatic changes in yield. Fixed costs (costs that farmers must pay regardless of crop price, such as for equipment) can average more than 50% of income. Farmers often accumulate large debts as a result of increasing fixed costs. The U.S. government attempts to reduce the decline of small farmers by providing credit for farmers and supporting fixed prices for selected farm goods. Under these guidelines, farmers receive a minimum price for their goods, but this has been helping the larger farmers rather than smaller farmers. Even with government subsidies, the world competition is ever growing.

Farmers are becoming more interested in securing advantages available to other workers like regular employment, health insurance, accident insurance, retirement benefits and unionization. Among the three million farm workers, half a million work full time (250 or more days a year), half a million work are long-term seasonal workers, and the remainder are short-term seasonal workers. Cesar Chavez’s efforts for the rights of the farm workers helped shape the United Farm Workers, who today still continue n their efforts.

Forestry

Like agriculture, forestry requires a high degree of skill. Mechanization in the harvesting of pulpwood has drastically changed the nature of skills that are needed. These machines displace worker skills and increase accident rates. Logging has higher fatality rates than any other industry. Forestry is also very vulnerable to price fluctuations, despite the abundance of the raw materials.

Fishing

The largest exporter of fish is Canada with 2 million tons of catch per year. Ocean fishing was once expected to provide relief for the problem of world hunger, but annual catch has increased only 1% because of the over fishing of coastal watersheds and increased fuel prices. Aquaculture is a potential remedy to this problem, where fish are raised in ponds or fish ranches (large, floating cages under the sea).

Mining

Mining is based around a sense of purpose and collective identity, built on twin pillars of shared group responsibility above and below ground. The isolation of miners creates a shared identity called occupational communities. The work ethic demands that standards of safety and efficiency be met with competition between work crews to produce the most tonnage. Group solidarity is intensified by the dangers they face.

Construction

Construction workers take a great pride in their work with a high level of skill and job autonomy. Because it is spatially dispersed and much is skilled craft work, construction is difficult to supervise. Inspection of work is usually after the job has been completed. Construction activity has slowed significantly because of strapped government revenues for expansion and repairs of streets, highways and bridges.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing workers can be broadly classified as craft workers (skilled workers), machine operators, assemblers (semiskilled workers) and laborers (unskilled workers).

Under the label of skilled craft workers there are 13 million workers, with 4 million as precision production operators, 4 million as mechanical repairmen and 4 million in construction.

Skilled workers typically learn their trade through an apprenticeship program. Most programs are jointly administered by a company and craft union, paying half wages during the training. Skills learned through the programs are the basis of craft workers’ pride, power, and claims of autonomy on the job.

CHAPTER EIGHT- Manufacturing, Mining, and Agriculture (Part 2)
(Outline Prepared by L. Atkins)
 
 

In 1992, 13 million workers were machine operators and assemblers.

Semiskilled - work requiring less than two weeks training.
 
 

Machine Operators and Assemblers

                            2) Semiskilled

    Automobiles