Strike frequency builds professions’ public status and prestige

Evidence

I think we need to think about winning hegemonic influence again. Why have nurses got more status than teachers? It’s partly that nurses often go on strike. It’s not that one should pander to the image of them in the media, but at the same time that’s where we’re starting from and why we have to struggle against it. Given that the media will use all of its weapons to produce what Alex Williams calls “negative solidarity” — turning one set of workers against another. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2191

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels Milgrom’s point on reputation signals — professions build status through costly observable actions like strikes. — connects to: Low strike levels can indicate strong rather than weak labour power — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface:…, 8; Prestige grants influence far beyond the domain of skill — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 388; Workers derive status from their power to disrupt and survive the economy

Broader Connections

• Workers derive status from their power to disrupt and survive the economy #expands (0.82)
• Prestige grants influence far beyond the domain of skill #expands (0.78) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 388
• Low strike levels can indicate strong rather than weak labour power #complicates (0.75) — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 8