ABSTRACT
Membership in an occupational community is marked by high levels of involvement in work and notably, its symbolic attributes. While a community is part of broader social aggregates, it remains a distinct social grouping. Determining the nature of community in general, as well as the effect of the community in the interactions of loggers, can become a confusing and frustrating enterprise. However, Gary E. Machlis and Jo Ellen Force suggest a broader, more environmental approach to community stability. They call for measures of persistence, constancy, resilience and adaptation in trying to measure stability. John Van Maanen and Stephen R. Barley note that the visible indications of occupational community membership or “tie signs” serve as the most obvious links in a complex combination of codes through which members communicate to each other “an occupationally specific view of their work world".
