White-collar unionism as social movements

As capitalism advanced, the bourgeoisie struggled to manage both swelling numbers of production workers and increasingly sophisticated labor processes. By the time when “monopoly” or “organized” capitalism developed in the late nineteenth century in theWest, employers began to cede somemanagerial authority to a limited group of employees-white-collar workers (Lash and Urry 1987; Prandy, Stewart, and Blackburn 1983).1 The category grew rapidly and diversified gradually in occupation. By 1992, 56.6% of US employees held white-collar positions-administrative, professional and technical, clerical, and sales-as did 39.3% of Korean employees (KLI 1994).