The Long Haul from Deregulation: Truck Drivers and Social Capital in the Louisiana Oilpatch
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2002
Publication Title
Human Organization: Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology
Department
Sociology & Anthropology
Abstract
Southern Louisiana has played host to the oil industry for nearly a century. While much of the contemporary activity is offshore, the communities of southern Louisiana provide labor and support to this vast enterprise. Truck-based transportation is one component of this support industry. In the past, the trucking industry meshed with the social and familial networks of the region, but state-level deregulation has rendered these connections inert. Based on interviews with truck drivers and truck company owners, this paper maps the historic importance of these social networks and gauges the impact of deregulation in social, rather than economic, terms. While the paramount impact of deregulation has been significant losses of power and control by local communities, the aftermath of these policy changes has opened up the trucking industry to new ethnic, geographic, and gender groups.
Volume
61
Issue
4
pp.
390-398
ISSN
0018-7259
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.61.4.6hm956ykpd5xd9e0
WorldCat Link
Provider Link
Citation
Gardner, A M. "The Long Haul from Deregulation: Truck Drivers and Social Capital in the Louisiana Oilpatch." Human Organization. 61 (2002): 390-398. Print.