The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, experts typically gauge the impact of labor market deregulation in economic terms. In the course of this paper, I argue that in the Louisiana oilpatch, one can perceive a more significant and complex stratum of social impacts underlying those of an economic nature. Utilizing social capital as the fulcrum for analysis, I explore the shifting structure of relations resulting from the sudden deregulation of the trucking sector of the Louisiana oilpatch.
Second, I seek to demonstrate that as a conceptual tool, social capital merits a more nuanced application. While often touted as a panacea to a variety of social and economic ills, social capital is here conceptualized as a two-edged sword: the structure of the industry prior to deregulation built upon the social and familial networks that predominate in Acadiana, resulting in a more egalitarian set of power relations than those emerging since deregulation. At the same time, however, these networks of social capital served as systems of exclusion, promoting the welfare of some at the expense of others. Social capital and the networks in which it thrives, I argue, must be conceived as systems of power relations.
Finally, I argue that the exploration and analysis of identity represents a vital frontier to applied work. In the context of the oilpatch, the truckers have selectively and strategically configured an occupational identity by which they refuse the mold of industrial labor – instead promoting those entrepreneurial aspects of their occupation that were essential to the industry prior to deregulation. Through this process, previously inconceivable alternatives – including collective action – are now being considered.
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Mr. Gardner is a doctoral student at the University of Arizona and a research assistant in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). His M.A. was completed under the guidance of Profs. Diane Austin, Thomas McGuire and Timothy Finan.
Previously, Mr. Gardner received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University with a major in philosophy.
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