Work Experience and Identity of Skilled Male Workers following the Economic Crisis

Abstract

(In lieu of an abstract) The recent economic slump and structural adjustments have caused unprecedented mass unemployment and job instability. Unemployment is a crisis for the ideology of the male breadwinner in Korean society, sometimes seen as bringing rapid dissolution of or discord in families. The economic depression means long-term financial scarcity; its social effects manifest themselves strongly in the lives of blue-collar workers who live on tight budgets and are relatively lacking in supplementary resources. This article addresses the question of how male workers in the steel and iron industry are experiencing and interpreting changes in their workplaces under the current neoliberal economic order with its accelerating economic depression and demands for labor flexibility.