Reading and Writing in the Global Workplace: Gender, Literacy, and Outsourcing in Ghana by Beatrice Quarshie Smith explores the conditions that underlie the outsourcing of US data-processing work in Ghana. Here Beatrice Quarshie Smith describes the convergence and interplay of at least four different socio-economic forces: (1) the digital and satellite technology enabling virtual environments for global outsourced data-processing; (2) the historical development of Ghana as a politically-stable Anglophone society with a relatively strong tradition of public education; (3) the neoliberal economic restructuring policies advanced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; and (4) the ready availability of women seeking to enter the formal wage economy either to seek independence from their roles within traditional families, or in order to support their families. The author's comparative study of two distinctly different workplaces reveals significant insights about problems of organizational hierarchy and management-employee relations in the cross-cultural environments of out-sourced business and IT process work. Through extensive interviews, the book sheds light on the educational backgrounds, day-to-day struggles, fears, and aspirations of the workers. Quarshie Smith develops this multi-faceted analysis with keen insights into the representational limitations and ethical responsibilities of the researcher. This pioneering study about outsourced data-processing work in West Africa opens up a new area for research and offers a fresh perspective from which to consider outsourcing in other regions of the globe.

President Reagan's Conservative Fiscal Policy explores how the Reagan administration's (1981-1988) fiscal policy changed the national economy and adversely impacted unemployment among African Americans. This work features detailed analysis of Reaganomics, supply-side fiscal policies, and major budget cuts to domestic employment training programs, such as the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) Program, as they relate to African Americans' unemployment levels and President Reagan's style of leadership and conservative ideology. Author Chiazam Ugo Okoye also scrutinizes three specific tax relief acts: The Economic Recovery and Tax Act, 1981 (ERTA); The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 1982 (TEFRA); and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA).

Young Working Class Men in Transition uses a unique blend of concepts from the sociologies of youth and masculinity combined with Bourdieusian social theory to investigate British young working-class men's transition to adulthood. Indeed, utilising data from biographical interviews as well as an ethnographic observation of social media activity, this volume provides novel insights by following young men across a seven-year time period. Against the grain of prominent popular discourses that position young working-class men as in 'crisis' or as adhering to negative forms of traditional masculinity, this book consequently documents subtle yet positive shifts in the performance of masculinity among this generation. Underpinned by a commitment to a much more expansive array of emotionality than has previously been revealed in such studies, young men are shown to be engaged in school, open to so called 'women's work' in the service sector, and committed to relatively egalitarian divisions of labour in the family home. Despite this, class inequalities inflect their transition to adulthood with the 'toxicity' of neoliberalism - rather than toxic masculinity - being core to this reality. Problematising how working-class masculinity is often represented, Young Working Class Men in Transition both demonstrates and challenges the portrayal of working class masculinity as a repository of homophobia, sexism and anti-feminine acting. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as youth studies, masculinity studies, gender studies, sociology of education and sociology of work.

Minority youth unemployment is an enduring economic and social concern. This book evaluates two new initiatives for minority high school students that seek to cultivate marketable job skills. The first is an after-school program that provides experiences similar to apprenticeships, and the second emphasizes new approaches to improving job interview performance. The evaluation research has several distinct strengths. It involves a randomized controlled trial, uncommon in assessments of this issue and age group. Marketable job skills are assessed through a mock job interview developed for this research and administered by experienced human resource professionals. Mixed methods are utilized, with qualitative data shedding light on what actually happens inside the programs, and a developmental science approach situating the findings in terms of adolescent development. Beneficial for policy makers and practitioners as well as scholars, Job Skills and Minority Youth focuses on identifying the most promising tactics and addressing likely implementation issues.

The response of European Union institutions to the Eurocrisis demonstrated their fragile and failing commitment to the role of social policy in advancing European economies and societies. The present volume, exploring the positive scope for such policies, is therefore timely and welcome. While sharply critical of much of what goes on at both EU and several national levels, the authors are constructive in tone and point the way to sustainable alternatives to neoliberalism.' - Colin Crouch, University of Warwick, UK and External Scientific Member, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, GermanyHighly valued by its citizens, the European social model is a defining feature of Europe and the European Union yet is under threat from the effects of both globalisation and the aftermath of the financial crisis. The Sustainability of the European Social Model addresses this issue in light of the current crisis that changed the landscape. It examines how social Europe responds to uncertainties that affect its development from a range of different disciplinary perspectives. The book begins by analysing interactions between EU law and national policies from a comparative perspective, highlighting the legal, social and institutional complexities that constrain the development of 'social Europe' It assesses the sustainability of EU law and policies in the areas of pensions and employment policy and then focuses on two crucial areas of EU social policy: the regulations on working time and the provisions of social services of general interest. The expert contributors compare the experiences of a range of Member States (and also bring in external comparison) to explore topics such as ageing, job quality, social protection and employment policies, social dialogue and the relationship between the various methods of European policymaking such as the 'community method' and the Open Method of Co-ordination. The analyses show that sustainability of the European social model will depend heavily on addressing failings in European governance. Insightful and comprehensive, this book is a detailed and timely resource for academic researchers. Its practical, policy-oriented insights into important issues in social and employment policy, as well as into European policymaking itself, will also be of great interest to practitioners and policymakers. Contributors: J.-C. Barbier, I. Begg, F. Colomb, C. Erhel, J. Gautie, B. Gazier, M. Hartlapp, M. Keune, A. Koukiadaki, P. Marginson, N. Ramos Martin, R. Rogowski, T. Sirovatka, E. Sol, M. van der Vos

Digital technologies promise efficiency and comfort, but the smoothness of platform services relies on the hidden social labour of those who keep the gig economy running. This book presents a comparative ethnography of young men making a living through digital technologies: selling mobile airtime in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and app-based delivery riders in Berlin, Germany. These case studies explore the significance of symbolic capital in urban youth's social existence and organisation of livelihood in the digital economy, and the technological mechanisms producing a new form of urban precarity. Globalised urban precarity in Berlin and Abidjan puts forward an original comparative approach to develop a global urban sociology for the digital era. It provides an innovative analytical toolbox that decentres discussions of precarity from the standard of a normal employment contract. With its focus on symbolic capital, the ethnography shows the consequences of the proliferating gig economy for status struggles among urban youth, and carefully embeds the densification of software and services into the socio-material relations on which these new urban infrastructures are built. -- .

This comprehensive two volume collection is designed to introduce the reader to the systems of innovation literature. This is the first time that one major reference collection brings together some of the best known and most provocative literature from a variety of different perspectives, such as national, sectoral and regional systems of innovation. Classics such as the seminal papers by Schumpeter and List as well as modern authors are included, and the collection focuses on issues of economic growth, competitiveness and employment. Systems of Innovation will be essential reading for researchers and practitioners and will be an invaluable source of reference for use in innovation courses at university level.

This text brings together academics, lawyers, trade unionists and industrial relations experts from three continents to provide an analysis of the impact of globalization and deregulation on gender inequality in employment. It reviews the evolution of pay equity policies, examines the impact of economic and social trends on divisions between women and includes detailed analysis of equal pay legislation in the UK.

Work orientations and work attitudes have to do with the productive capacities in society. Insofar as individuals are positively oriented towards contributing their labour, we can expect a great amount of work to be done and to be carried out efficiently, carefully and responsibly. These subjective factors are thus very vital in modern working life. Work Orientations: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings offers up-to-date research on people's commitment to work and employment and job satisfaction in economically advanced countries. It will also analyse changes that have taken place in these respects over the last decades. Among the key issues in Work Orientations are questions about whether patterns of work centrality and employment commitment tend to remain stable or have changed across time in various countries. Moreover, we assume that the circumstances under which people participate in the social division of labour colour their subjective relationships to their jobs and to employment in general. A major aim of the book is to explore the impact of factors such as occupation, education, age and gender on work orientations and work attitudes. Work Orientations will be invaluable for researchers and scholars in the fields or organizational studies, the sociology of work, employee engagement and related disciplines.

This volume argues that the West may have emerged victorious in the conflict of ideologies, but no nation can be considered truly wealthy if a significant proportion of its citizens are forced into unemployment or early retirement. Apart from the personal hardship and indignity caused, unemployment and early retirement create a huge funding problem for the state which has to resort to high taxation and borrowing to fund this in a humane society. This high level of taxation and borrowing in turn depresses economic activity and wellbeing. The main obstacles to reform are ignorance of an alternative economic strategy and the reluctance of economists to admit their error, though the latter is changing. John Young focuses on today's conundrum: why is it that with modern technology, which can produce in a day - or even hours - what had taken weeks or months before, there is still grinding poverty, and, paradoxically, the greatest poverty is often found side by side with the greatest wealth in the world's major cities. A growing number of economists are admitting that conventional economics cannot solve the problem of poverty and unemployment. This book offers a way forward that would also take into consideration environmental concerns. John Young is the author of "Reasoning Things Out"

Originally published in 1991 this book provides a multi-faceted analysis of German unemployment between 1873 and 1913. It can also be read as an example of social scientific historiography during the fourth quarter of the twentieth century. Finally, the study has value for the comparative perspective it lends to current economic, social, and political turmoil in Germany, Europe, and the United States. While the precise conditions in the USA differ today, there are clearly still lessons to be learned on both sides of the Atlantic from the economic, social, and political dislocation, which accompanied industrial unemployment in Germany between 1873 and 1913. .

The purpose of this book is to examine whether physical distance from jobs or racial discrimination in youth labor markets explains a greater part of minority youth's employment problems. First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Due to the sharp declines in trade union density and collective bargaining coverage post-1979, the shift by trade unions towards political action has had significant implications for employment relations regulation in contemporary Britain. Yet, there remains insufficient discussion of the factors of influence affecting changes in the political action process from a historical and contemporary perspective. Unions and Employment in a Market Economy will evidence how trade unions were able to offset environmental constraints through a progressive focus on political action, despite diminished power in the Labour Party's structures and the wider economy. The book presents four legislative events categorised as functional equivalents enacted in two different periods of Labour governance (1974-79 and 1997-2010). The selected events are the Social Contract (1974-79), National Minimum Wage (1998), Employment Relations Act (1999) and the Warwick Agreement (2004). The book's findings lend credence to the proposition that in a liberal market economy there is a valuable dividend associated with trade union political exchange through the Labour Party.

First published in 1987. This volume explores the inter-war unemployment problem and the development of economic and social policy in relation to that problem. Contemporary policies and levels of unemployment can only be compared with the inter-war period and in recent years economists and other commentators have increasingly turned their attention to the 1930s. This book is written by a group of expert historians and policy analysts who have been in the forefront of recent research. In particular, new insights into economic policy which have come from the release of cabinet and departmental papers at The Public Record Office are revealed. Recent economic theory is also taken into account and the findings question established views on many grounds. New economic lessons from the 1930s are suggested and some astonishing similarities to the 1980s and demonstrated. This work will be essential reading for students of modern British history and economic and social history as well as economic policy and government and politics.

First published in 1995. Over the last several decades there has been much concern that international trade has been destroying "good" jobs in the United States. This book provides a thorough empirical examination of this issue, focussing on the years when large, continuous deficits began. The analysis examines occupational employment data for 118 occupations in 156 different industries, and will be of interest to both students of business and economics and policy makers.

First published in 1986. This book analyses, at an introductory level, the four main and competing political interpretations of the cause of unemployment and the future of paid work - social democracy, free market liberalism, the disciplinary state, and utopian socialism. Considered together these four interpretations are highly revealing - and challenging. They raise considerable doubts about the viability or desirability of policies design to 'get the jobless back to work'. Keane and Owens' central argument is that the post-war policy of full male employment, as well as its politic, economic and social preconditions, are not repeatable, Starting with Keynes and Beveridge, they explain how and why full employment welfare states developed in Britain and the US, and how they had in turn been replaced by the 'strong state, free market' programmes of Thatcher and Reagan. By focusing on an issue which was, and still is, at the heart of political debate, the book provides a lucid and approachable guide to four key strands of political thought it Britain and the US. It will be an ideal introductory text for students of politics, sociology and economics.

First published in 1985. Increasing doubt is being shed on the proposition that higher levels of education in developing countries are an unmitigated good. Unemployment among school leavers and university graduates is now a major problem. Some people argue that what is needed is a reform of primary education and the changing of attitudes to work; but many of the measures adopted have failed to achieve these goals and have only worsened the problem by increasing costs, making curricula less flexible and by increasing 'mis-education'. This book examines the problems and the measures adopted to alleviate them in four important developing countries. It provides many new research findings and much new thinking and concludes with suggestions for improving policies.

First published in 1995. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the American economy again became immersed in a recession. Consequently, it became very likely that the quality of employment generated during this period would suffer, and the situation of the labor force would be expected to worsen. The study of labor force stratification can illuminate ways in which the American working class is segmented, as well as the relation to other social problems like poverty and delinquency. In this book, the author explores underemployment, an arguably more accurate measure of labor force hardship than unemployment, amongst several demographic groups. This study will be of interest to students of both economics and sociology.

First published in 1985. In this remarkable book, the author has compiled a large collection of resource material that will be of benefit to the student as well as the practitioner of equal employment and affirmative action (EEO/AA). This book includes a broad scope of information on EEO/AA from its infancy and progresses through its rapidly changing and developing stages. Indeed, this book will be an invaluable asset in easily acquiring and supplementing one's basic knowledge as well as providing a general overview of the subject area.

First published in 1987. Unemployment is currently the major economic concern in developed economies. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the economics of unemployment. It concentrates on theories of the labour market and examines the critical inter-relationships with the rest of the economy. It provides a thorough evaluation of theory and extensive consideration of the relevant empirical evidence. It emphasises the multi-causal nature of unemployment and concludes that policy-makers should respond with a multi-faceted mix of policies.

First published in 1978. In spite of the wide recognition of Hong Kong's successful growth record, little is known about the impact that rapid industrialisation has had on income distribution. The transformation of an entrepot economy into an industrial one has been accompanied by a transition from a labour surplus to a labour shortage economy, which has had a profound influence on the distribution of income by size. The effect has been channelled through a number of variables such as the composition of employment by industry, occupational structure, labour force participation rate and wage structure. All these changes have, moreover, owed much to the existence of a market mechanism which has been virtually free from government intervention. Beginning with a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of the various characteristics of employment and the labour force on household income distribution, this study assesses the impact of Hong Kong's industrialisation and employment growth on its income distribution. Through an analysis of the changes in industrial and occupational structures, employment status, household size, labour participation rate, inflow of labour and wage and employment structures, it considers not only how income distribution alters with economic development, but also the mechanism that has brought about these changes. The redistribution effect of government activities is examined and the incidence of particular taxes to different income groups is apportioned to give a clear overall picture. Finally, the benefits obtained from government expenditures on housing, education and health are measured and are allocated to different income groups, illustrating how this has appreciably reduced income inequality in Hong Kong.

First published in 1969. This book analyses the role of Unemployment Insurance in a high-employment economy. It emphasises the social requirements of an income-maintenance scheme in the context of various economic policies, particularly government intervention in the labour market. The authors discuss other related problems including the relationship between Unemployment Insurance and redundancy compensation and the question of selectivity in social security. This book provides a case study in a field bordering labour economics, public finance and social policy and will be useful as a textbook for both economists and sociologists, illustrating the relevance of economic analysis to social welfare policy. It offers comparisons of Unemployment Insurance in several European countries with the British scheme and in their final chapter the authors make important suggestions for policy changes in the structure of British Unemployment Insurance and in social security generally.

First published in 1987. This fascinating study provides an understanding of the failings of the post-war era of active macroeconomic policy-making, and only by a better comprehension of past failings can we hope to provide the successful policies for the present and future. The book takes as its primary bench mark an analysis of Keynes's conception of the wages problem at or near full employment in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. It then depicts the developments in official thinking and policy with regard to this problem as the confidence in Keynesian principles waxed and waned over the period.

Today’s economics offers us a far too narrow perspective on the role that paid work plays in our lives, as individuals and as a society. This book examines the urgent workplace challenges we’re facing today, from automation to AI and climate change, with an interdisciplinary and historical analysis that challenges and broadens the scope of existing economic literature. Exploring the current economic proposals to address these issues, it advocates for a more egalitarian and sustainable future that builds workers’ protections into the very fabric of our economic systems. This is a resounding call for greater economic social justice and equality at work and a valuable resource for social scientists from fields like heterodox economics, business and sociology.

In the years since 2007 the U.S. economy has endured a severe financial crisis, a Great Recession, and continuing heavy unemployment. These events have led to increasing discontent among many people contributing to a substantial vote for Bernie Sanders and the election of Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Europe has witnessed the rise of nationalist parties and Brexit. In the face of these problems and events, economics must change. Principles of Macroeconomics: Activist vs. Austerity Policies provides an antidote to the standard macro texts offering multiple points of view instead of one standard line, a fact-based focus on the causes and cures of instability in economics, and an examination of inequality in the United States. Readers are introduced to both the Classical view, which takes the conservative approach and argues for an austerity program to reduce the size of the government; and the Progressive view, which argues for government intervention to create a strong recovery. These ideas are applied to all the key macroeconomic topics including economic growth, business cycles, and monetary policy. Using the methodology of Wesley Mitchell and drawing on the work of Keynes, the authors also explore topics such as unemployment, the human cost of economic crashes, increasing inequality of income, and the history of capitalism. This second edition includes new material on the Obama recovery, the crisis in the Eurozone, the rise of populism, and the current state of healthcare, education, and environmental issues in America to bring the text fully up to date. It will be of great interest to undergraduate students and particularly those studying the economics of the United States.