1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910554206303321

Autore

Lane David C.

Titolo

The other end of the needle : continuity and change among tattoo workers / / David C. Lane

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Brunswick, New Jersey : , : Rutgers University Press, , [2021]

©2021

ISBN

1-9788-0751-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (244 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Inequality at Work: Perspectives on Race, Gender, Class, and Labor

Disciplina

391.65

Soggetti

Tattoo artists

Tattooing

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Tattooing for Beginners -- 1 The Social World of Tattooing -- 2 Organizing Space -- 3 Careers of Tattooists -- 4 Legal Consciousness among Workers -- 5 Ties to Conventional Institutions and Ideas -- 6 Sources of Contention -- 7 External Threats and the Maintenance of Boundaries -- Conclusion: Continuity and Change -- Appendix A: Methodology -- Appendix B: Breakdown of Participants -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

The Other End of the Needle demonstrates that tattooing is more complex than simply the tattoos that people wear. Using qualitative data and an accessible writing style, sociologist Dave Lane explains the complexity of tattoo work as a type of social activity. His central argument is that tattooing is a social world, where people must be socialized, manage a system of stratification, create spaces conducive for labor, develop sets of beliefs and values, struggle to retain control over their tools, and contend with changes that in turn affect their labor. Earlier research has examined tattoos and their meanings. Yet, Lane notes, prior research has focused almost exclusively on the tattoos—the outcome of an intricate social process—and have ignored the significance of tattoo workers themselves. "Tattooists," as Lane



dubs them, make decisions, but they work within a social world that constrains and shapes the outcome of their labor—the tattoo. The goal of this book is to help readers understand the world of tattoo work as an intricate and nuanced form of work. Lane ultimately asks new questions about the social processes occurring prior to the tattoo’s existence.