Description
Book SynopsisAddresses the convergence of race, gender, and technology in the telephone industry. This book shows how, as technology changed from a manual process to a computerised one, sexual and racial stereotypes enabled management to manipulate both the workers and the workplace.
Trade Review“
Race on the Line is an extraordinary achievement. It sets a new standard for understandingf the impact of race, gender, and technological change on the labor process in American society.”—Joe W. Trotter, author of
The African American Experience“A compelling, well-argued, and richly-documented study of the interplay between technology and the racial and sexual division of labor in one of the most important industries in the global economy. Green provides a powerful commentary as well on the contemporary uses of racism and affirmative action as vehicles for minimizing resistance to job displacements created by automation and computerization. A superb book!”—Nancy Hewitt, Rutgers University
“Green has produced a study that enables us to understand concretely what differences race, class, and gender make in people’s work lives. Her special understanding of the technology and of the constraints and possibilities of work at the telephone company gives her arguments extra force. Finally, she does a magnificent job of showing the complexity of the considerations that motivates all parties involved, giving full attention to both multiple and shifting motivations.”—Susan Porter Benson, University of Connecticut
Table of ContentsPreface
Ackowledgments
Introduction
Part I: The Beginnings of Telephony
1. “Hello Central”: The Beginning of a New Industry
2. “Hello Girls”: The Making of the Voice with a Smile
3. The “Ladies” Rebel: Unions and Resistance
Part 2: The Dial Era, 1920–1960
4. “Goodbye Central”: Automating Telephone Service
5. The Bell System Family: The Formation of Employee Associations
6. The Dial Era
Part 3: The Computer Era
7. Racial Integration and the Demise of the “White Lady” Image
8. Black Operators in the Computer Age
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
