Between Class and Profession: Healthcare Labor Organizations and the Marketization of Care in California

• In Event: 507 - Section on Labor and Labor Movements Paper Session. The Labor Market and Social Provision: Implications for Worker Health and Organizing

Abstract

Sociologists of work and labor tend to see profession and class as two fully distinct forms of collective organization for workers, with distinct ideologies, opponents, and associated organizational structures. However, under certain circumstances these boundaries can blur. This paper examines two organizations—one that began as a traditional professional association, and one a traditional labor union—that organized healthcare labor in Northern California. The rapid marketization of healthcare during the late 20th Century altered business models and patterns of authority within and across workplaces, challenged longstanding boundaries between professional groups, and changed relationships between managers, physicians, and employees. Using extensive archival research and oral histories, this paper examines how each organization confronted the marketization of care by rearticulating the boundaries between profession and class. I argue that profession and class are not fixed categories, but rather fluid organizational projects: workers and their organizations can adopt elements of both or shift in one direction or another, allowing them recourse to different moral and political claims and organizational structures. These shifts are shaped by a) the broader dynamics of the field and their effects upon the labor process, and b) pragmatic efforts to mobilize workers and key allies. Understanding profession and class as distinct organizational projects will help refine sociological theories of labor organization.

Author

• Pablo U. Gaston, University of California-Berkeley