Page 192 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 192
plex Gateways
Narrating and negotiating dock work - conclusion
While in different settings narrative patterns about dock workers’ expe-
riences may be similar, local characteristics in talking about social, tech-
nical and atmospheric spaces can be identified. The transformations trig-
gered by containerization resulted in the need for qualified staff, and
therefore affected work methods, the working group, the workplaces, and
specifically the self-perception of interviewees.
Occupational advancements not only shaped individual career paths,
but also found their way into the narratives, focussing on the portrayal of
individual professional biographies. In biographical retrospect, perceived
losses due to technological change are evident both on a personal lev-
el and, above all, related to social connections and attitudes. The mean-
ing of and identification with formerly strong and long-established insti-
tutions such as trade unions experienced a decline or a reinterpretation.
Respective activities increasingly lost their importance due to profession-
al, and especially financial, security. While some interviewees highlight-
ed the specific focus on understanding or transmitting the importance
of achieving qualifications and technical skills to pursue their careers,
several narrations show that an increased economic capital had an effect
on active political commitment. Thus, the changed organizational struc-
tures and qualification measures led to de-radicalization and partly also
to de-politicization as individualization processes and economic interests
prevailed. However, the workers emphasize the social, collegial, and soli-
dary character of dock work, which despite undergoing a change did not
lose its relevance. Many express their moral convictions and political at-
titudes. However, they no longer carry them to the outside world in the
form of visible political action.
The imaginary marks both the ideas circulating about the port city
and its workers as well as the narratives of the interviewees. Since the
1970s, media reports and publications have directed new perspectives on
this occupational group and its activity fields. Dock workers were increas-
ingly portrayed and perceived not so much as casual or second-class work-
ers, but rather as skilled ones, and were thus able to act and become visi-
ble as such. This process changed the way the group interacted with each
other, and influenced their self-image and positioning. Since the 1990s,
the image of the worker has been replaced by a romanticized, fascinat-
ed idea of a profession from the past. The traditional dock worker trans-
formed into a popular nostalgic figure, appearing to this day as a refer-
192
Narrating and negotiating dock work - conclusion
While in different settings narrative patterns about dock workers’ expe-
riences may be similar, local characteristics in talking about social, tech-
nical and atmospheric spaces can be identified. The transformations trig-
gered by containerization resulted in the need for qualified staff, and
therefore affected work methods, the working group, the workplaces, and
specifically the self-perception of interviewees.
Occupational advancements not only shaped individual career paths,
but also found their way into the narratives, focussing on the portrayal of
individual professional biographies. In biographical retrospect, perceived
losses due to technological change are evident both on a personal lev-
el and, above all, related to social connections and attitudes. The mean-
ing of and identification with formerly strong and long-established insti-
tutions such as trade unions experienced a decline or a reinterpretation.
Respective activities increasingly lost their importance due to profession-
al, and especially financial, security. While some interviewees highlight-
ed the specific focus on understanding or transmitting the importance
of achieving qualifications and technical skills to pursue their careers,
several narrations show that an increased economic capital had an effect
on active political commitment. Thus, the changed organizational struc-
tures and qualification measures led to de-radicalization and partly also
to de-politicization as individualization processes and economic interests
prevailed. However, the workers emphasize the social, collegial, and soli-
dary character of dock work, which despite undergoing a change did not
lose its relevance. Many express their moral convictions and political at-
titudes. However, they no longer carry them to the outside world in the
form of visible political action.
The imaginary marks both the ideas circulating about the port city
and its workers as well as the narratives of the interviewees. Since the
1970s, media reports and publications have directed new perspectives on
this occupational group and its activity fields. Dock workers were increas-
ingly portrayed and perceived not so much as casual or second-class work-
ers, but rather as skilled ones, and were thus able to act and become visi-
ble as such. This process changed the way the group interacted with each
other, and influenced their self-image and positioning. Since the 1990s,
the image of the worker has been replaced by a romanticized, fascinat-
ed idea of a profession from the past. The traditional dock worker trans-
formed into a popular nostalgic figure, appearing to this day as a refer-
192
