Journal Article

Race, Gender, and National Identity in the American and British Telephone Industries

Green, Venus

2001

Overview

This article compares the racially heterogeneous, privately-owned American telephone industry, and the relatively homogeneous, publicly-owned British system, to examine how race and gender constructions implicit in the national identities of the two countries influence employment opportunities. For all the differences in the histories of the two telephone industries and variations in the construction of racial, national, and gender identities, blacks in the United States and Britain had remarkably similar experiences in obtaining employment as telephone operators. This leads to the conclusion that the power of national identity in the workplace is strongly based on “whiteness”. Despite their limited access to national identity, white women experienced advantages that were denied to black women, which illustrates how race modified the impact of gender on the privileges of national identity.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: African Americans / Black people / Black White Differences / Black women / Business / Canadian literature / Citizenship / Construction industry / Employment / Employment - economics / Employment - history / Employment - legislation & jurisprudence / Employment - psychology / Employment Opportunities / Ethnic identity / Female employees / Gender / Gender Identity / Great Britain / History, 19th Century / History, 20th Century / Humans / Ignatieff, Michael / Job opportunities / Men / Minority & ethnic groups / Minority Groups - education / Minority Groups - history / Minority Groups - legislation & jurisprudence / Minority Groups - psychology / National culture / National Identity / Nationalism / Operators / Population Dynamics / Population Groups - education / Population Groups - ethnology / Population Groups - history / Population Groups - legislation & jurisprudence / Population Groups - psychology / Post offices / Prejudice / Private Sector / Private Sector - economics / Private Sector - history / Private Sector - legislation & jurisprudence / Public Sector / Public Sector - economics / Public Sector - history / Public Sector - legislation & jurisprudence / Race / Race Relations - history / Race Relations - legislation & jurisprudence / Race Relations - psychology / Racial identity / Racism / Research Article / Segregation / Self concept / Sexual Inequality / Social Change - history / Social construction / Social Environment / Social history / Social Identification / Telecommunications / Telecommunications - economics / Telecommunications - history / Telecommunications - legislation & jurisprudence / Telecommunications industry / Telephone / Telephone Communications / Telephone industry / Telephones / U.S.A / United Kingdom / United Kingdom - ethnology / United States - ethnology / United States of America / Veterans - education / Veterans - history / Veterans - legislation & jurisprudence / Veterans - psychology / Whiteness studies / Women / Women, Working - education / Women, Working - history / Women, Working - legislation & jurisprudence / Women, Working - psychology / Work experience / Workers / Working class / Working Women / Workplaces / World War I / World War II / World wars