Provocation Paper

Paradigm trades

Paradigm Trades: The iconic jobs of the early 21st century

Provocation Paper, Series 2, Number 2

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Overell, Stephen

2006

In the America of fifty years ago, the battle of the workplace archetypes was declared open. What were the occupations and forms of work that somehow seemed to carry the spirit of the times within them? Which were the industries that defined the identity of America in the middle of the twentieth century? What job captured the temper of the age?

Anyone hoping to find the archetypal workers of the early 21st century should look no further than the ranks of hairdressers, management consultants, celebrities and managers.