The Wage Worker
1. There are a number of different behaviors that the wage worker could have conducted when asking for a pay raise that would have been considered as acceptable in the eyes of others. However, it is clear from the story that the only truly acceptable behavior the wage worker could have exhibited in this situation was to “behave sensibly and [to] do what others expect” from her in order to not only maintain her identity as an employee and the identity stakes associated with it, but those of others in the company as well (Schwalbe, 2015). From those possessing higher authority over the wage worker, such as the controller, armed guard and boss, it is not deemed as acceptable for the wage worker to openly and quite forcibly push …show more content…
On the other hand, asking for a pay raise would be seen as acceptable as long as it is kept “within bounds that do not threaten business as usual” through actions, such as petitions, impassioned letters to newspapers and protesting on the weekends, which ultimately would not “have much effect on elite behavior” (Schwalbe, 2015). In my opinion, it would have been ideal for the wage worker to gather enough of her co-workers, who were also being paid low wages, and allow them to “see [such a] dissent as legitimate and change as desirable” (Schwalbe, 2015). Thus, permitting dissent amongst other wage workers to grow and eventually causing the unravelment of the “usual nets of accountability” that control and allow for such inequality to continue in the corporation, which would ultimately cause those in higher authority positions or “elites [to] be forced to negotiate changes in the game” …show more content…
Through the denial of the wage worker’s pay raise, the controller is able to protect his own identity stakes and potentially her identity stakes as an employee as well by suggesting for her to “apologize and get back in line” (Schwalbe, 2015). Likewise, such communication in the story aids to reestablish each character’s role or identity within the corporation and their limitations on the entitlement of “certain rights, protections, and benefits” that are associated with such as an identity (Schwalbe, 2015). This is made particularly evident for the wage worker, when she is reminded that she belongs to an identity that is regarded as having little status in the corporation and must be held accountable for such unexpected behavior from a person of this identity. It is from communication, stemming from the controller to the armed guard and the boss to the local police, that each character’s identity is reaffirmed and that the wage worker is made to realize that by being a wage worker, she by no means can be “taken seriously…and [ultimately] discredits herself” (Schwalbe,
1. There are a number of different behaviors that the wage worker could have conducted when asking for a pay raise that would have been considered as acceptable in the eyes of others. However, it is clear from the story that the only truly acceptable behavior the wage worker could have exhibited in this situation was to “behave sensibly and [to] do what others expect” from her in order to not only maintain her identity as an employee and the identity stakes associated with it, but those of others in the company as well (Schwalbe, 2015). From those possessing higher authority over the wage worker, such as the controller, armed guard and boss, it is not deemed as acceptable for the wage worker to openly and quite forcibly push …show more content…
On the other hand, asking for a pay raise would be seen as acceptable as long as it is kept “within bounds that do not threaten business as usual” through actions, such as petitions, impassioned letters to newspapers and protesting on the weekends, which ultimately would not “have much effect on elite behavior” (Schwalbe, 2015). In my opinion, it would have been ideal for the wage worker to gather enough of her co-workers, who were also being paid low wages, and allow them to “see [such a] dissent as legitimate and change as desirable” (Schwalbe, 2015). Thus, permitting dissent amongst other wage workers to grow and eventually causing the unravelment of the “usual nets of accountability” that control and allow for such inequality to continue in the corporation, which would ultimately cause those in higher authority positions or “elites [to] be forced to negotiate changes in the game” …show more content…
Through the denial of the wage worker’s pay raise, the controller is able to protect his own identity stakes and potentially her identity stakes as an employee as well by suggesting for her to “apologize and get back in line” (Schwalbe, 2015). Likewise, such communication in the story aids to reestablish each character’s role or identity within the corporation and their limitations on the entitlement of “certain rights, protections, and benefits” that are associated with such as an identity (Schwalbe, 2015). This is made particularly evident for the wage worker, when she is reminded that she belongs to an identity that is regarded as having little status in the corporation and must be held accountable for such unexpected behavior from a person of this identity. It is from communication, stemming from the controller to the armed guard and the boss to the local police, that each character’s identity is reaffirmed and that the wage worker is made to realize that by being a wage worker, she by no means can be “taken seriously…and [ultimately] discredits herself” (Schwalbe,