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Trading health for money: agential struggles in the (re)configuration of subjectivity, the body and pain among construction workers

Author

Listed:
  • Jeppe ZN Ajslev

    (National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark)

  • Jeppe L Møller

    (Roskilde University, Denmark)

  • Roger Persson

    (Lund University, Sweden)

  • Lars L Andersen

    (National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark)

Abstract

Construction work is physically demanding and often associated with bodily pain. This article presents a study of construction workers’ practices of using and relating to their bodies at work through an agential realist framework for analysing the (re)configuration of the workers’ embodied subjectivity. The analysis draws on interviews with 32 Danish construction workers as well as brief observations. The article shows how ‘trading health for money’ becomes a mode for maintaining positive social, occupational and masculine identity among construction workers. Furthermore, it shows how the agency of the body is overruled by the intra-acting agencies of productivity, collegiality, job security and masculine working-class identity. Finally, it shows an instability in this configuration of masculine working-class identity that leaves room for a focus on the body.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeppe ZN Ajslev & Jeppe L Møller & Roger Persson & Lars L Andersen, 2017. "Trading health for money: agential struggles in the (re)configuration of subjectivity, the body and pain among construction workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(6), pages 887-903, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:6:p:887-903
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017016668141
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lars L Andersen & Thomas Clausen & Hermann Burr & Andreas Holtermann, 2012. "Threshold of Musculoskeletal Pain Intensity for Increased Risk of Long-Term Sickness Absence among Female Healthcare Workers in Eldercare," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-6, July.
    2. Graham Winch, 1998. "The growth of self-employment in British construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 531-542.
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