Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth-Century America - Paperback
Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth-Century America - Paperback
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by Kevin L. Borg (Author)
The history of automobiles is not just the story of invention, manufacturing, and marketing; it is also a story of repair. Auto Mechanics opens the repair shop to historical study--for the first time--by tracing the emergence of a dirty, difficult, and important profession.
Kevin L. Borg's study spans a century of automotive technology--from the horseless carriage of the late nineteenth century to the "check engine" light of the late twentieth. Drawing from a diverse body of source material, Borg explores how the mechanic's occupation formed and evolved within the context of broad American fault lines of class, race, and gender and how vocational education entwined these tensions around the mechanic's unique expertise. He further shows how aspects of the consumer rights and environmental movements, as well as the design of automotive electronics, reflected and challenged the social identity and expertise of the mechanic.
In the history of the American auto mechanic, Borg finds the origins of a persistent anxiety that even today accompanies the prospect of taking one's car in for repair.
Front Jacket
Auto Mechanics opens the repair shop to historical study--for the first time--by tracing the emergence of a dirty, difficult, and important profession.
Kevin L. Borg's study spans a century of automotive technology--from the horseless carriage of the late nineteenth century to the check engine light of the late twentieth. Drawing from a diverse body of source material, Borg explores how the mechanic's occupation formed and evolved within the context of broad American fault lines of class, race, and gender and how vocational education entwined these tensions around the mechanic's unique expertise.
In the history of the American auto mechanic, Borg finds the origins of a persistent anxiety that even today accompanies the prospect of taking one's car in for repair.
A superbly researched, engaging look into the profession that's near and dear to us all.--Motor Magazine
Borg's own work in the repair shop infuses the study with insights that I am sure would escape anyone without the experience he has had . . . His questions are anything but academic.--AutoWeek
A source of inspiration to those who would like to work to improve the industry's image, recruitment and retention.--Import Automotive Parts & Accessories
An excellent work that has much to contribute to our understanding of the automobile, technology, and wider trends in American history.--Michigan Historical Review
In seven richly detailed chapters, theoretically sophisticated and attentive to nuances of race, class, and gender, Borg analyzes the changing background, training, and expertise of auto mechanics over the course of the twentieth century.--Technology and Culture
An important contribution to U.S. labor and economic history and to our understanding of the ways that the mass production of automobiles changed working life.--Journal of American History
Kevin L. Borg is an associate professor of history at James Madison University.
--Karla A. Erickson "Work and Occupations"Back Jacket
Auto Mechanics opens the repair shop to historical study--for the first time--by tracing the emergence of a dirty, difficult, and important profession.
Kevin L. Borg's study spans a century of automotive technology--from the horseless carriage of the late nineteenth century to the "check engine" light of the late twentieth. Drawing from a diverse body of source material, Borg explores how the mechanic's occupation formed and evolved within the context of broad American fault lines of class, race, and gender and how vocational education entwined these tensions around the mechanic's unique expertise.
In the history of the American auto mechanic, Borg finds the origins of a persistent anxiety that even today accompanies the prospect of taking one's car in for repair.
"A superbly researched, engaging look into the profession that's near and dear to us all."--Motor Magazine
"Borg's own work in the repair shop infuses the study with insights that I am sure would escape anyone without the experience he has had . . . His questions are anything but academic."--AutoWeek
"A source of inspiration to those who would like to work to improve the industry's image, recruitment and retention."--Import Automotive Parts & Accessories
"An excellent work that has much to contribute to our understanding of the automobile, technology, and wider trends in American history."--Michigan Historical Review
"In seven richly detailed chapters, theoretically sophisticated and attentive to nuances of race, class, and gender, Borg analyzes the changing background, training, and expertise of auto mechanics over the course of the twentieth century."--Technology and Culture
"An important contribution to U.S. labor and economic history and to our understanding of the ways that the mass production of automobiles changed working life."--Journal of American History
Kevin L. Borg is an associate professor of history at James Madison University.
Author Biography
Kevin L. Borg is an associate professor of history at James Madison University.
