Thesis

'We were all scattered to the four winds’ : work, identity, and deindustrialisation in post-war Scotland

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Creator
Rights statement
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2024
Thesis identifier
  • T16808
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201752284
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This thesis examines the post-redundancy employment experiences of former Scottish heavy industry workers and the survivability of their occupational identities and work cultures. This thesis draws on 51 oral history interviews conducted between 2016 and 2019 with former heavy industry workers in the West of Scotland – 21 from shipbuilding and 30 from steelmaking. The occupational culture of heavy industries such as mining, steelmaking, and shipbuilding have been well documented by labour historians. These industries are renowned for their extensive trade unionism, maledominated workforce, shop-floor camaraderie, and the prevalence of a hegemonic mode of ‘hard man’ masculinity. Heavy industry sharply declined in the face of the rapid deindustrialisation which typified the 1980s and early 1990s, forcing workers into early retirement, unemployment, or the pursuit of alternative employment. Given their previous immersion in a distinctive occupational culture, a study of heavy industry workers’ post-redundancy employment experiences offers a window into the impact of deindustrialisation on work and identity. In light of this, this thesis will explore how workers defined, understood, and acclimatised themselves to new working environments following their transition from heavy industry into other forms of employment, and how these transitions augmented their experience of work. In order to better understand the long-term impact of deindustrialisation, this thesis examines the ways in which workers’ post-redundancy employment contrasted with heavy industry, focusing on the following thematic areas: health and safety; trade unionism and collectivism; masculinity and emasculation; and occupational community and workplace culture.
Advisor / supervisor
  • McIvor, Arthur
  • Smith, Matt
Resource Type
Note
  • Previously held under moratorium from 24 January 2025 until 24 January 2026.
DOI
Date Created
  • 2023

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