Gypsum, Drywall, and Monopoly Capital

• In Event: 20881 - Section on Labor and Labor Movements Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: The Materiality of Labor

Abstract

This paper examines drywall, a ubiquitous building material, to illustrate processes that create inequality. I argue that the shift from plaster to drywall is a case of deskilling. This led to lower wages for workers. However, this also coincided with labor organizing in the drywall industry. This is put into a larger global context of labor exploitation and the rise of powerful transnational corporations in the drywall industry. Notably, the concentration of market power in the drywall industry and the persistence of price-fixing in the sector.

Author

• Albert S. Fu, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania