The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream
Ocejo's Masters of Craft and Viscelli's The Big Rig both illustrate how working class jobs in today's economy ain't what they used to be. Viscelli explores how truck driving is no longer 'one of the best blue collar jobs in the US' (p. 9) while Ocejo focuses on 'how middle class kids' take 'working class jobs' made trendy through a sense of handcrafted authenticity (p. 129) Both books illuminate how perceptions of the work, particularly independent contracting and hip craft trades, obscure the unstable realities of jobs in these industries. Offering sociological analysis of the economic context in which these occupations are changing, both books highlight how good working class jobs are increasingly scarce and available to only a privileged few.