‘We’re not like that’: Crusader and Maverick Occupational Identity Resistance

Abstract

This article explores the occupational identities of hairdressers and vehicle mechanics working in small and micro firms. Using qualitative interview data from two UK cities, it examines the ways that workers expounded, reflected on and discursively reframed public perceptions of their occupation. A novel distinction between two types of identity resistance is proposed. ‘Crusaders’ are workers who perform collective occupational resistance by rejecting characterisations as inappropriate for the occupation at large, whereas ‘mavericks’ accept that popular characterisations apply to other workers but differentiate themselves. The analysis identifies differences in occupational identity resistance strategies (crusader or maverick) when workers interact with two different publics: customers and trainees.