Skip to main content

Identity, Self-Interpretation and Workplace Change: An Investigation of the Work Activity of Machining

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the development of identity in changing contexts. The site of study was machining work in the automotive industry. Machining is an economically critical activity undergoing rapid technological change, with the changes occurring within the working lives of individuals. The development of individuals was considered within the context of the culturally organized human activities in which they occurred. The informants were skilled machinists working for a major automotive company in the United States. A developmental perspective, based on cultural historical theory, together with C. S. Pierce’s theory of sign generation, provided an explanatory framework for the development of identity as a self-regulatory higher psychological function.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

References

  • Abdelal, R., Herrera, Y. M., Johnston, A. I., & McDermott, R. (2006). Identity as a variable. Perspectives on politics, 4(4), 695–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andacht, F., & Michel, M. (2005). A semiotic reflection on self-interpretation and identity. Theory and psychology, 15, 51–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barclay, M. W., & Kee, M. (2001). Toward a semiotic psychotherapy: Semiotics objects and semiotic selves. Theory and Psychology, 11, 671–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowling, W., & Ewing, W. (Producers), & Hanon, J. (Director). (2005). End of the spear [Motion picture]. Studio City: Every Tribe Entertainment.

  • Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The basics. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline. Cambridge, MA: The Belnap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engström, Y. (1999). Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Engström, Y. (2000). Activity theory as a framework for analyzing and redesigning work. Ergonomics, 43, 960–974.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engström, Y., Miettinen, R., & Punamäki, R. (Eds.). (1999). Perspectives on activity theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finegold, D. (1994). The decline of the US machine-tool industry and prospects for its sustainable recovery. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gose, P. (1989). Labor and the materiality of the sign: Beyond dualist theories of culture. Dialectical Anthropology, 13, 103–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, D., & Lachicotte, W. (2007). Vygotsky, mead, and the sociocultural studies of identity. In H. Daniels, J. Wertsch, & M. Cole (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Vygotsky. NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hungwe, K. N. (2000). Becoming a machinist in a changing industry. Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1999, Proquest Digital Dissertations, AAT 9971926.

  • Kalafsky, R. (2006). Performance and practice: Examining the machine tool industries of Japan and the United States. Tijdsachrift Economische Sociale Geografie, 97(2), 178–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lele, V. P. (2006). Material habits, identity and semiotic. Journal of Social Archeology, 6, 48–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leont’ev, A. N. (1981). The problem of activity in psychology. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in soviet psychology (pp. 37–71). New York: M. E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, C. (2005). Knowing truth: Pierce’s epistemology in an educational context. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37, 157–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monden, Y. (1994). Toyota production system. New York: Institute of Industrial Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (1999). The changing nature of work: Implications for occupational analysis. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, C. S. (1931). Collected papers of C. S. Pierce. In C. Hartshorne, P. Weiss, & A. Burks, (Eds.), (Vols. I–VIII). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Robbins, D. (2003). Vygotsky’s non-classical dialectical metapsychology. Journal of the Theory of Social Psychology, 33, 303–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaiken, H. (1984). Work transformed. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinde, S., & Leu, M. C. (2004). Unigraphics for engineering design. Missouri: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuomi-Gröhn, T., & Engström, Y. (2003). Conceptualizing transfer: From standard notions to developmental perspectives. In T. Tuomi-Gröhn & Y. Engström (Eds.), Between school and work: New perspectives on transfer and boundary crossing (pp. 19–38). New York: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. In M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds. & Trans.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Wartofsky, M. W. (1979). Models. Boston: D. Reidel Publishing Co.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1976). Subjective meaning in the social situation. In L. A. Coser & B. Rosenberg (Eds.), Sociological theory (pp. 209–221). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winograd, T., & Flores, F. (1986). Understanding computers and cognition. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kedmon Hungwe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hungwe, K. Identity, Self-Interpretation and Workplace Change: An Investigation of the Work Activity of Machining. J Adult Dev 19, 123–140 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-011-9139-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-011-9139-6

Keywords

  • Identity
  • Work
  • Activity
  • Semiotic mediation
  • Artifacts self-regulation