Songs of the Factory : Pop Music, Culture, and Resistance

In __Songs of the Factory__, Marek Korczynski examines the role that popular music plays in workers' culture on the factory floor. Reporting on his ethnographic fieldwork in a British factory that manufactures window blinds, Korczynski shows how workers make often-grueling assembly-line work tolerable by permeating their workday with pop music on the radio. The first ethnographic study of musical culture in an industrial workplace, __Songs of the Factory__ draws on socio-musicology, cultural studies, and sociology of work, combining theoretical development, methodological innovation, and a vitality that brings the musical culture of the factory workers to life. Music, Korczynski argues, allows workers both to fulfill their social roles in a regimented industrial environment and to express a sense of resistance to this social order. The author highlights the extensive forms of informal collective resistance within this factory, and argues that the musically informed culture played a key role in sustaining these collective acts of resistance. As well as providing a rich picture of the musical culture and associated forms of resistance in the factory, Korczynski also puts forward new theoretical concepts that have currency in other workplaces and in other rationalized spheres of society. In Songs of the Factory , Marek Korczynski examines the role that popular music plays in workers' culture on the factory floor. Reporting on his ethnographic fieldwork in a British factory that manufactures window blinds, Korczynski shows how workers make often-grueling assembly-line work tolerable by permeating their workday with pop music on the radio. The first ethnographic study of musical culture in an industrial workplace, Songs of the Factory draws on socio-musicology, cultural studies, and sociology of work, combining theoretical development, methodological innovation, and a vitality that brings the musical culture of the factory workers to life. Music, Korczynski argues, allows workers both to fulfill their social roles in a regimented industrial environment and to express a sense of resistance to this social order. The author highlights the extensive forms of informal collective resistance within this factory, and argues that the musically informed culture played a key role in sustaining these collective acts of resistance. As well as providing a rich picture of the musical culture and associated forms of resistance in the factory, Korczynski also puts forward new theoretical concepts that have currency in other workplaces and in other rationalized spheres of society. | In Songs of the Factory , Marek Korczynski examines the role that popular music plays in workers' culture on the factory floor. Reporting on his ethnographic fieldwork in a British factory that manufactures window blinds, Korczynski shows how workers make often-grueling assembly-line work tolerable by permeating their workday with pop music on the radio. The first ethnographic study of musical culture in an industrial workplace, Songs of the Factory draws on socio-musicology, cultural studies, and sociology of work, combining theoretical development, methodological innovation, and a vitality that brings the musical culture of the factory workers to life. Music, Korczynski argues, allows workers both to fulfill their social roles in a regimented industrial environment and to express a sense of resistance to this social order. The author highlights the extensive forms of informal collective resistance within this factory, and argues that the musically informed culture played a key role in sustaining these collective acts of resistance. As well as providing a rich picture of the musical culture and associated forms of resistance in the factory, Korczynski also puts forward new theoretical concepts that have currency in other workplaces and in other rationalized spheres of society.

In Songs of the Factory, Marek Korczynski examines the role that popular music plays in workers' culture on the factory floor. Reporting on his ethnographic fieldwork in a British factory that manufactures window blinds, Korczynski shows how workers make often-grueling assembly-line work tolerable by permeating their workday with pop music on the radio. The first ethnographic study of musical culture in an industrial workplace, Songs of the Factory draws on socio-musicology, cultural studies, and sociology of work, combining theoretical development, methodological innovation, and a vitality that brings the musical culture of the factory workers to life. Music, Korczynski argues, allows workers both to fulfill their social roles in a regimented industrial environment and to express a sense of resistance to this social order. The author highlights the extensive forms of informal collective resistance within this factory, and argues that the musically informed culture played a key role in sustaining these collective acts of resistance. As well as providing a rich picture of the musical culture and associated forms of resistance in the factory, Korczynski also puts forward new theoretical concepts that have currency in other workplaces and in other rationalized spheres of society.

Examines The Role That Popular Music Plays In Workers' Culture On The Factory Floor. Reporting On His Ethnographic Fieldwork In A British Factory That Manufactures Window Blinds, Korczynski Shows How Workers Make Often-grueling Assembly-line Work Tolerable By Permeating Their Workday With Pop Music On The Radio. The First Ethnographic Study Of Musical Culture In An Industrial Workplace, Songs Of The Factory Draws On Socio-musicology, Cultural Studies, And Sociology Of Work, Combining Theoretical Development, Methodological Innovation, And A Vitality That Brings The Musical Culture Of The Factory Workers To Life-- Reach Out, I'll Be There : Pop Music, Work And Society -- Stayin' Alive At Mctells -- I've Got My Sisters And Me : Music And Community -- Music, Machines, And Clocks : Songs And The Senses Of Alienation -- You Can Tell By The Way I Use My Walk : Music As Aid To Work And Cultural Critique Of Taylorism -- Pop Songs And The Hidden Injuries (and Joys) Of Class -- Collective Resistance On The Shopfloor -- Dotted Lines On The Shopfloor : Cultural Connections With Collective Resistance -- Conclusion : Pop Music, Culture, And Resistance. Marek Korczynski. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 215-220) And Index. Contents Acknowledgments 1. Reach Out I’ll Be There: Pop Music, Work, and Society 2. Stayin’ Alive at McTells 3. I Got All My Sisters with Me: Music and Community 4. Music, Machines, and Clocks: Songs and the Senses of Alienation 5. You Can Tell by the Way I Use My Walk: Music as Aid to Work and Critique of Taylorism 6. Pop Songs and the Hidden Injuries (and Joys) of Class 7. Collective Resistance on the Shop Floor 8. Dotted Lines on the Shop Floor: Cultural Connections with Collective Resistance 9. Conclusion: Pop Music, Culture, and Resistance Appendix: An Ethnography of Working and of Musicking References Index This book examines the role that popular music plays in workers' culture on the factory floor. It shows how workers make often grueling assembly-line work tolerable by permeating their workday with pop music on the radio. The first ethnographic study of musical culture in an industrial workplace, the book draws on socio-musicology, cultural studies, and sociology of work, combining theoretical development, methodological innovation, and a vitality that brings the musical culture of the factory workers to life