Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Distributed Labor, Writing, and An Automotive Repair Shop

    Uploaded by

    Jeremy Cushman
    32 views8 pages
    Cushman_Distributed Labor, Writing, And an Automotive Repair Shop

    Original Title

    Distributed Labor, Writing, And an Automotive Repair Shop

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Cushman_Distributed Labor, Writing, And an Automotive Repair Shop

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    32 views8 pages

    Distributed Labor, Writing, and An Automotive Repair Shop

    Uploaded by

    Jeremy Cushman
    Cushman_Distributed Labor, Writing, And an Automotive Repair Shop

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 8
    utledge Research in Literacy ited by David Barton, Lancaster Univers, UK. ome, Literacy and Developer iy dna Ronn Pont Literney and Globalization Reading and Wing Ties ‘of Soll aod Cults Change Cra Papen Bromo Willams and Romani Writing [trey Litertice a Taty Police Paola Taina 5 New Literacies around the Globe Paley and Pednsoey ated by Cathy Burnt, Sai Davies, Gy Merch and ei 6 The Discourse of Rening Groups Integrating Copitive and Social Perspectives oi Pep, Joa am, Paola imaro, and San Whiley 7 Litoray tn Praetice ‘Weng in rive, Pui and Working ives ued by Patrick Thoms ont Pamela Tolayea Literacy in Practice Writing in Private, Public, | and Working Lives Edited by Patrick Thomas and Pamela Takayoshi Qo R fetes. 216 il [News and provide insight ito the ways profesional communicator di- ‘uri pectic aimed at authoring shared document, ate embeded ‘within lager organizational cleure Specfeally they allow wt unde stand how the profesional communicators are motivated to cooperate, Aire, and negotiate based upon a fel need or responsiblity to create ‘Sicie corporate commaniation oo behalf of Midwest Ui. This fl eed isnot only consequence of bn profesional communicator whose job sto wet on behalf of an organization bt alo a rel of belonging ta dscoure community tha shares the same values nd belie within hit organizational eng, Eventhough this erucalSindng ian extrapolation, its grounded inthe daca, which sa nique feaare of this investigation. Ie x ierative that ber woskplace Ineracy researchers lo sty the language cece made in ‘workplace collaborative wating in atemp to lr mote abot sina a other discursive prac hat are employed during workplace wring col Taboraton as they ocean diffrent domains, by vious profsionaly and through the use of various technologies. Doing So could lemately cont ute oa better and shared understanding of what workplace collaborative ting i, how i occurs, and, pechaps mos important, why colaborstrs ‘the language they do when engaging inthis eomplen wing atv. REFERENCES Ale, Nancy Diane Aino, Meg Mora, Test Moos a Cig Son: 1987 'itat Exerc Colabrnos Sy Ao Colateratve Wing "Jounal of [Bebe and Teche Comment B09. ‘an, Dai and May Hardon, 2000 Lerey Petes" In Staced Lie ‘ht Renn and Wig Coney ied by Dard Harton, May Hani coma? ed Rec Bl a ary Kain 20. Mier New iri, New ea: Teg Felgen tration awa 14-135 ef ae Re a cc ara Comma le ployee Newser." Procesdiag ofthe Acadony of Ogoncaton ive Conmenaionsand Conic 10.24.97.” Doheny ain, Spe, 1986. "Weng man Lneging Onaniaton: Aa Eno ‘ape Say" Ween Communion 3 1Shc185 lt tae and Andes Ac Lao 2001. “Callan and Coe of Auto Pabaton othe Modern Langage Aucoin 116. 334-90. Forman Jn 191 “Calaorate ars Wing A Buea peste fo Fate Teach fur! of Bann Conant 38 289-257. ‘Lowry, Pal tj, havo Crs, apd Mle Rene Lowry, 2004, “Bung "tony an NotenszarefCaishorste Wing topos ied sry Resch and Pgtie oul of Buses Comnation# i 699 Spi, Rachel 1998, “Calberaton Aerne Mle Organiza} Cane “hn Conooncntion Quarry 2 Oh 125-305, Spire Clay 2007" Go ors todo Tesh Common inthe Aol Due Woah eal Commacton Crh Tol 26027 “Win, Doe 2003. Wag Powers Communication nan Encig Cntr. “ia ate Unies of New York Pre, 16 Distributed Labor, Writing, and an Automotive Repair Shop Jeremy Cushman ‘Automotive rps technicians wil admit that Binding and Fixing problems ‘with ats acctates some reading and wetng. Bae they approach rea ing and writing es ancillary to what counts a ral labor, which makes, some sense Techical service wodkes, such a engineers oF automotive ‘epair technicians, produce physial product: a wel-constacted tunnel repaired and wellscrvicedinachine. As Winsor (1954, 61) pots “be ging aber than a document, i che nal publication’ forthe engines” nd, tad, eh actual repaint the accompanying writen work dei ‘what counts at work for automotive repaeechnisns erhape consequent and notwithstanding afew wonderful exceptions (re 1996; SiJohnson 200% Winsor 1994), searchers intrested in the ‘ways literacy practices show up and inpact workplaces tend to fous on IKowledge work, or on workers who, in ne way or anothes, write for ving (Brande 2009), Such a focus i fi unsurprising, The New London Groups (NLG, 1996, 67) eal focus on changing workplace icracies cen tered on *posFordiam” and "ast capitals.” Arguably sucha focus (no duke unsteninaly excludes what might be understood as more nd ‘wal labor practices. New lieraey prases demand workers negoiae 8 sulplicty fdicourss" (New London Group 1996, 61), and asthe apy tiled seudy Reading Don’ Fix No Chevys: Literacy Lives of Yung Men ingiates (Smith and Winbelm 2002, hit kind of negotiation fel supe {uous for technical service work, luther wos, techn service work ‘remains tethered wo fantional technologies! sls nota miley of de courses, bacauseit is 0 often approached asthe xing of uniform machines by rove procedures. Complicated notions of literacy fat ge inthe wy of fixing a leaking water pump on a Chery pickup, The daconnece between technologist sil and new Uteracy practices seems patcully poignant for researcher, lke myself looking fo beter Understand dhe elationship among technial service worker racy, and the challenging conditions of wiat gets called dstbuted labor Fr any researches interested in workplace communication paces, knowledge ‘wore not neces echical sevice work, ental telbuted labor peat ‘ote (Brandt 2009; HaeDavidson 2013; Johnson-Blola 1996 Pigg 2014, Slattery 2007; Spinwei 2007, 2014). Kaowledge workers, or “symbolic analysts" as jobnsonilola (1996, 255 ealled them, "identi, rearrange, ‘eal, bsiact, and broke information. They ently work elie, iter eramancating with pers. or manipulating symbols wth the help of ‘riogs computer resources." Pot more geal, HareDavideon (2013, 82), ‘ays “symbolicanayss solve problems with information, text ad images” Knowle work i dstributed wosk in that requis the symbole naps, lay the shapeshiting cole of medias, symbesing ad hoo ensemaking ‘cts and eransfoeming complex organizational hiocey and expertne ino mening proces nd prot fore aden coe ie and competitors, Arguably then, discibuted knowledge work andetie the NLG's two" pronged sttategy to (1) change what eounts a literacy and (2) acknow dee the malimodal narure of Hersey practices (Collier and Ronwell 2014) As Gee (2000, 46) sys of the changing Iteracies growing rom the changing workplace, “[what businesses maker now are not prod ets not even serve; but knowledge." That in dstebuced Work hese ‘connected to traditional product prodaction, which requires functional technological silly and can be beter aligned with specialized know dee, profesional networks, and the coordination of varying databanes, and customer fle. Indeed, knowledge work i distibured labor in that itrequies the constant segointion of & multiply of discouaes I Hiare-avidson (2013, 82} say that sounds like diseibated work means that knovledge workers "manipulate snany existing texts, imagen, ahd fragments of information in ores to make new ones, thea you are string to get che picture." Distebuted kaowledge work isin constant foe and requires adepiness with maple modes of contaunication and messing, making practices tha, a aes, shape meaning. But apnin, this pcre of work roo easily excludes technical service work, which assume mast snd ‘becaugh up in the changing workplace peaches both the NLC al Gee sntcpate. ‘So nthichaptey, build rom rexearch on dsb labor in the work- place i trace what argue ate ueprisingly inventive tera paces going fn inthe yarage ofa relatively smal independent astomotive tea shop. “The technicians ac this shop work with dlfering communication technolo ‘ess they generate meaningfl ways o think abou aa approaches ‘tate, fragile machines along with he customers who ned these mchies fixed). The ofen invisble resding and wing they do highlight techie stevice work as a collection of knowldgeintenive acs of era that sake tehnial repair possible: Put sp thexe technicians have tobe ast as adepe writing stores, inerpecing dtl technologie, and partial in onlin commons a they do with «voltage meter ora wrench. These technicians work to address social and thtoical problems and tet pr ‘dares fr fixing ears prove inadeguate In sitsations whee problems with ‘machines areas latina a they a mechani. ‘COORDINATING DISTRIBUTED WORK, WORKPLACE LLITERACIES, AND FIXING CARS el of dacunezon he spi raed pina work Seen iene we he se eli ae Sot ale ey en an te ee in al an ork oe ns Lindo ep enn Fer econo dbl wok, wecaltn of rer tae pe e207, 1) cca ‘Sipe ores he es ty ree That saa ren 159) etc mln el cy ces veer ane whaay nod inch ecto mae ie $F carnation of mule communi ru in see wok enlace sn a: pcs toe woe cee ee i iy knelt wok ste «Set of rhe ad al oninnon ie woe ed Eich ay, idk rere fide woh ond re aryl ape ar Rr cg sly 0 ae er eee eke wel rset cere Petia nd coment serch tar mde eponn ormatn a tomo cree tse ent renee el sore df lpn a's hte i apr aoe sees yn a hoy mop pin eds nnd ckran ny Ae eons ec ed re ek of del xp gos sd ep ce etter wee wok coreg ean satelite nso ey pale “oboe ane mh ch ne sc, mae an ed” Tey 300 35 ate tt sr ocelot sero ch ens elon Ti cess apy ses eile deresto commun wih ner om obed sarc beac er open a Of oun koe at Sean yt lloene nest Sr Sita ma ane ten cana een igi nxt sere yo hay mx rds sale see htc us ar ea Hower 205 ‘SAE ME) a sme ase he be of oe sare tei th dba epee have taped eat ef pfs orn waa chan ns Se see” ergo} 7 Comput econ steed eaters th a sn eng iether taro sh sbetou ioematoneclgy seca ve ee ‘Whats more, Brande and Chon (2002) est tha she NL makin ay epee a sh ta el wing reac en gency ubgutostecnolony might cay interme of workplace lire “hey wite, “The hogy adventage of he mulimodely pepe sm we sect he langue pois for tlking abot ecco a tans ‘the sees of ean an iting a ace and elo sca opens foward whieh readers and writers oe (2006, 254, Bgl bigs icles ne mean ob can ep rit toolboxe, ame, even ney he ways they approach pari cat and a pasticular customer concern. ernst : “That sotto sy that lenin incorporate ew communicative eke soli dictates a techn’ racic inthe sine way that Set (1984) Sorel setromosn ices coexui a Sncs e work patces Such an appro would nse echnical serie ok theme peso nal el lan poncha atemping to compat, Rates 1 dol nthe folowing wean techno at tea shop parca with theta hey werk toward powble means for undertacing reps In ether wot se {nda changes that Pg nares acento inva knowledge workers Sade Was whch cal ev worker Hes ep tia find and Ex a chnk coming rm he nt end ia Volo or bane town amaage clerical wena Lee “Technicians solve problens hat vary depending on he particular jb. So rater han fea exclasiely on wt nay be tony wero theta practices going ons sm auto faz shop on fhe T work ftom te flowing quexoonn to beter understand ein an fen ‘inventive textal borinaton practic ha both emerge and eae bc inthe gag: 1. Hlow do technicians a repaieshop appeoac thir communication with service writers, cstomers each othe and with machine? 2. How might examining the individu literacy practices of suromoive technicians impace the ways which we artiulte the conditions of itbated work for knowledge worker? [WRITING WORK ORDERS AT PRIMARY AUTOMOTIVE REPATR “To respond to these goeton spat the majority of my ime wi thee ofthe foe technicins working a repair hop fa the Norhwe eled inary Automotive Rep [PAR Jordan, Dave od Pal allowed mo this wersaons and work hats Whe ey worked aed eons sbonthe ang td tng rate foal sta evens {cope space for cone. da abou some spc pets that "no dabs, valued as iteacypacics, but moa fn infor nce dat is desive fom what the employees decided to ak with me abot as they worked, Because Iain after more than rections on work aleady ‘done, the informal interviews collected at PAR present, as Goergakapoulow (2007, 40) sys of her interview data, "a eajectory of nersectionsvather than“ fee aanding, ished snd sel consined unit” Whar more, Spent more than oxy hous simply observing the ings on inthe aca, ‘which ofered me more assemblages of wace evidence of dstbated work ‘than {ould ever fly rake ene of TPAR i relay smal onpaizatin, Stay the owaey, employs two se vice writs along withthe four technicians, While bot service weiter ad bre with PAR for several years, atthe te of hi sd thes ofthe four technicians were ne 0 the shop afc, they were til tying to Far, 3 Pah the newest techriclan sai, “how allthis paperwork is supposed to {go Dave nd been atcha a PAR neal yeas, Chris was approach tng eight months, and Pas had been there jst over @ month. Jordan, who ftvtd at PAR before he even finshed technic! School, had been working for Stan foe eghe years What thie all means interme of te hierarchy in the garage is complicated, Jordan, Dave, Pal, and Chris work relatively independent. Like many automotive shop that | have vse, the ne” tot (and often youngest) technician gets asigned the mos routine labo: til changes, sixty.ehoseand mle series, nd s0 on. Tat routiized work {CPA then, belonged to Paul Otherwise, technicians tend to specialize, Ihc valeo ow worked a ths shop. Chris does more heavy. dry work {ch at removing and replacing bead poets or axel. Dave often wodks twith electra problems and iss rlfed to computer eroxble code. Aad Jordan does moat everthing, but he service writer liked to asi im i= cue diva aves not only because he has he most expevience at PAR ‘but aso because the service writers old me that Jordan. can get obsesve. ‘Being obsesive i advantageour when working with dabiity problem ‘when, fr example, a customer is concerned that his or he car sometimes Tose power when toning ef sed heading uphill These problems take some obsessive, detctivelike work "The service writers spend the major of thee dy in the font ce, ‘communicating with eames, writing esimates and work orders, manag ing part and tying to keep a good handle onthe overall wockiow bap pening back i the parage, They are knowledge workers in ha thee labor Fr datbated ncrose the whole organiation, Tey manage de and com ‘munication, constantly working to gencate “knowledge ia tangible, and thereby teasactional fon (Brande 2009, 117). Tati the eric wees te prodacing vavows documentation thee serve multiple porposes They ‘mainsin t's procedares and keep the shop viable; they allow the techn ‘ans todo the wrk for which he shop stall charges and of conse they hep customers understand what, exact they pay fe ‘The technician back in the garage also engage inthe coordination of information and do plensy of wring. Stan reques that each tecican wrt about he processes they ied o digo trol car a the wa they went abou making specie reps Seng no sande et fp luc gover the than’ ig, Sretie they we St bu it sometimes they wie a standalone prspayhy and somesines they wre what he ence wits cl "tres" longa inca nanatog sive prs. nh he re way a Gee arg tha in 3 aly stated dacoune, langage ad scton do not senply "8" ste Oo, tues ta the righ” lngsage expres ight bel on 20 the kind of writing each techni dos expres the right for no eae for performing diagnoses and repair For example, Jordan fends ote long nacaiediven pots, Both eve een ne host geting through epee one of Jonas novels Move of than noe Jordan’ src ie te service wes, ll ax Soy cence he

    You might also like