‘It could never be just about beer’: race, gender, and marked professional identity in the US craft beer industry

Abstract

To critical observers, the growth and professionalization of the US craft beer industry over the last few decades has meant the expansion of yet another kind of workplace replete with standards of whiteness and masculinity. Yet the first-hand experiences of workers in this setting—one that values authenticity and features growing support for social inclusivity—remain understudied. This study asks how do women and people of color negotiate work identities in craft beer? Based on 56 in-depth interviews as well as ethnographic field research in US craft breweries, this study demonstrates how minoritized workers enact their work identities in ways that are both enabled and constrained by their workplace contexts. I find that women and people of color attempt to construct marked professional identities that adhere to existing standards of industry professionalism while selectively engaging their race and gender identities when it is advantageous to do so. I elaborate on how marked professional identities may especially resonate in organizational settings that prioritize authenticity and feature less entrenched organizational norms.

The Hidden Strains of ‘Cool’ Jobs

“…In a context where the expectation is that workers will be passionate about their jobs regardless of employment conditions (Bunderson and Thompson, 2009; Duffy, 2017; Thurnell-Read, 2014), workers risk being alienated from their peers for drawing too much attention to the shortcomings of their employment. This can also exclude them from industry networks that may otherwise be crucial to their long-term employment prospects (Wilson and Stone, 2022). In this way, the normative approach to work circulated among workers ends up reinforcing structural forms of employment precarity within these industries.…”

“…Jobs in craft breweries are a quintessential example of ‘cool’ jobs in the new urban economy that are growing in popularity and ascribed with cultural value (Chapman et al, 2017; Land, 2018; Wallace, 2019; Wilson and Stone, 2022). As Land (2018) notes, not only do the ‘artisanal’ products and processes at the heart of this work appeal to elite consumers, so, too, do those who produce them.…”

“…For instance, Miller (2019) reports that some Brewers find the physical labor of craft brewing dissatisfying and little more than glorified janitorial work. Further, in an industry where the majority of workers continue to be White men, scholars note how intersectional social privileges pattern employment opportunities in this industry (Wilson and Stone, 2022; Withers, 2017) as well as how workers from marginalized backgrounds relate to these jobs (Wilson, 2022).…”

“…This article examines the hidden strains of 'cool' jobs by drawing on the case of craft beer workers in the United States. 1 Jobs in craft breweries are a quintessential example of modern craft (or 'neo-craft') work in that they emphasize the use of specialized materials, production methods, and service styles that hold considerable appeal to certain workers (Borer, 2019;Land, 2018;Ocejo, 2017;Thurnell-Read, 2014;Wallace, 2019;Wilson and Stone, 2022). Working in craft breweries is thought to allow workers the opportunity to align their employment with their desired lifestyle and 'craft' identity (Thurnell-Read, 2014).…”

Privileging Passion: How the Cultural Logic of Work Perpetuates Social Inequality in the Craft Beer Industry

“…One emergent pattern in the data for this larger research project (but not fully explored here) is that a number of workers who are women and people of color may be accessing alternative career pathways within the craft beer industry less dictated by pure passion and the privileged statuses that frame it. Expressing different relationships to their jobs—for instance, by voicing social justice advocacy through their employment platform—could be a source of strategic advantage for some workers in an era when more organizations are publicly signaling their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (see Chapman and Brunsma 2020; Wilson 2022; Wilson and Stone 2022). As an alternative cultural logic of work that highlights social identity issues, especially those that are underrepresented, the popularization of this narrative could potentially support the upward mobility of workers from marginalized social groups.…”