First of all Helena, let me say that this response is made without reading
those of the others, so there may be redundancies or disagreements with what
has been written earlier. Second, the work you have taken on is incredibly
complex, involving at least the 11 systems you outlined (I counted the
contractors) -- and most likely within several of those systems others could
well be further identified, -- this may be analytically important (tho i'm
only guessing) should internal tensions, say, in one system be more readily
explicated as tensions between systems. And you bring in that it is not just
the way things are now that make the situation difficult -- it is the way
things have become, over many years, and with the traces of many other
systems (i.e. The WIA and the CRA) that shape how decisions are made by
people today. I took a look at the wia on the web, and it is not easy to
grok with a quick read. It would be interesting to see how something like
this, which shapes activity systemically, is interpreted and acted upon
locally-- how much does it actually penetrate into any system of activity or
is does it act more as a backdrop?
The thread I am mainly drawn into, however, is that of the trajectories for
those individuals who move through bb to apprenticeship and then on to a
union trade. So for example,
"Success. The graduate is working in a unionized building trades job either
as a journeyman or as an apprentice, or else is progressing normally through
the testing and enrollment process, having passed the initial test. Sometimes
"progressing normally" means waiting, possibly up to a year. Out of 49, 15
graduates fit in this category."
I'm wondering what this story looks like for someone --how do they deal with
the problems of race and needed skills for the workplace? Do they find the
maths and blueprint reading they learn in the 11 week course to be relevant
to the work they do? Do they instead find more relevant the stories the
mentors have told of racist actions? It is the focus you state at the
beginning: "we are looking at access: the transition from the Building
Bridges math classes into the apprenticeship programs." And, of course, the
flip side, the stories of one who does not make it, could be equally
compelling.
As part of the greater clarification, I guess i'd like to see more of the
dense interactions suggested by the venn-like diagram, clustering around 5->2
and 5->a, both mediated by 3.
For example, there is the contradiction in race diversity in the trades, 1)
that the trades are not diverse enough to win contracts in minority
communities-- instead these contracts are going to sweatshops (there is also
an economic reason here) , but 2) continuing racism is a barrier to the
apprenticeship of more minorities. This is a contradiction internal to the
trades system, that it, of its own accord, cannot solve. Yet, with
assignments being made for apprenticeships, that offer the flow of minorities
into the trade, leading to the spread of diversity, as you point out,
minority caucuses ensured "that cancellations were made without prejudice",
potentially maximizing the 'seeding' of minorities into the trade unions, and
accomplishing what the unions alone cannot do. I'd like to see more explicit
this manner in which one system mediates the internal contradictions of
another.
The final thing that is systemic, that i'd like to see more about is
addressing the economic contraints as a thread in the writing - not only how
the trades and apprenticeship programs are affected by available jobs, but
how some churches also turn to sweatshop operations to meet their financial
goals. In my gut, I feel that there must be some strong tensions and problems
here. Are there really contradictions here? If church parishioners had
better jobs, would the churches fair better?
Anyway -- sorry for asking so many questions -- but it seems the complex
nature of what you and your colleagues are taking on just leads in that
direction.
bb
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