Buoyancy on the Bayou

"Jill Ann Harrison's book is a highly readable and insightful account of the hardships faced by Louisiana shrimpers over the last decade. Based on 'ethnographic interviewing,' the empirical focus of Buoyancy on the Bayou is the social strategies of shrimpers dealing with the twofold threat of lower prices paid for their productresulting from cheaper imported shrimp and soaring costs mostly more expensive fuel. Harrison skillfully uses this context to extract sociological lessons on the diverse responses of actors tackling the social dislocations caused by economic globalization... Running against accounts of globalization portraying U.S. working-class communities as mere 'victims,' Buoyancy on the Bayou's main contribution is its focus on the agency mobilized by shrimpers. In doing so, the book offers a series of sociological lessons... Buoyancy on the Bayou should be read by people interested in the impacts of neoliberalism on U.S. industries and cultures, individual strategies in response to changing economic circumstances, and the connections between occupational identities and cultural milieus. The book will be an excellent addition to courses on global sociology, labor studies, qualitative methods, and economic sociology." -- Pablo Lapegna, University of Georgia * American Journal of Sociology *

Jill Ann Harrison is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon.

Prologue1. Setting Sail: What We Can Learn from Louisiana Shrimp Fishers2. Identity: The Struggle to Stay Afloat3. Loss: Jumping Ship for Higher Ground4. Innovation: Changing Course on Choppy Waters5. Docked: The Uncertain Futures of Shrimp Fishers in the Post-BP Oil Spill EraMethodological AppendixNotes Bibliography Index