Nickel And Dimed Sociological Analysis

Kaitlin Yates
14 August 2010
Contemporary Social Problems
A sociological evaluation of Nickel and Dimed. “To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else”.(221) Barbara Ehrenreich in her book Nickel and Dimed explored life as a low wage earner by working several “unskilled” jobs in different areas of the country and attempted to live off the wages she earned. I will evaluate some assertions she made and make some assertions of my own based on my knowledge of sociology. Social Conflict Theory is useful in evaluating how Ehrenreich acted as an “unskilled” member of society and sold her labor in a system she realized not designed to benefit her and her fellow “associates”. Theories of
Conflict theory suggests that individuals are the creative agents in a system where society forms as people come together to make a living from the natural material universe. As part of Ehrenreich’s experience she felt limited by rules and regulations not only set by company policies but also between employee policies in places she worked. Some policies included pre-employment drug testing and what is referred to as “personality testing” which is actually a tool that companies use to test for willingness to pledge allegiance to the company. After being employed there would be no talking while working, limiting bathroom breaks and drinking water(these are considered “time theft”) limiting interaction with customers and being subjected to random bag checks. She was also told in several places of work from her coworkers to not work too hard or learn too much otherwise she would be abused by having to work even more and make work harder for everyone else. Rather than being able to do well and be paid well and get recognition for her efforts, she and the people working alongside her would not be recognized individually for the interests of the company are considered more important. There is no time for recognition because there is always more work to be
According to labeling theory in symbolic interaction, when a label is set upon a person that label affects the way they are treated in society and then in turn as part of how the person view themselves. Drug testing and bag checks are outcomes of labeling individuals in low wage work as thieves and drug addicts. Pre-employment drug testing is not only very costly and people rarely test positive but it is demeaning and surely goes against our fourth amendment right of unreasonable