This book builds upon the ground-breaking work already undertaken by the author filling the absence of research into the significance, character and value of creative industries beyond major urban centres. What has emerged in this work is the specific centrality of place, time and the natural environment to the creative practice of those who have chosen or found themselves operating outside the mainstream of urban creative milieus. Unlike any existing book in the market, Locating Cultural Work uniquely examines creative workers in terms of three interlinked concerns: the wider history of creativity and place in the UK since the Industrial Revolution (in particular the Romantics and the Arts and Craft Movement, especially as manifest in the Lake District and Cotswolds); the emotional-affective-drivers of creativity and place; and, the relationship between rural and regional cultural industries, tourism and environmental awareness.

In the bustling cities of the mid-nineteenth-century Northeast, young male clerks working in commercial offices and stores were on the make, persistently seeking wealth, respect, and self-gratification. Yet these strivers and "counter jumpers" discovered that claiming the identities of independent men--while making sense of a volatile capitalist economy and fluid urban society--was fraught with uncertainty.

In On the Make, Brian P. Luskey illuminates at once the power of the ideology of self-making and the important contests over the meanings of respectability, manhood, and citizenship that helped to determine who clerks were and who they would become. Drawing from a rich array of archival materials, including clerks' diaries, newspapers, credit reports, census data, advice literature, and fiction, Luskey argues that a better understanding of clerks and clerking helps make sense of the culture of capitalism and the society it shaped in this pivotal era.

Since Vietnam introduced economic reforms in the mid-1980s, domestic service has become an established sector of the labour market, and domestic workers have become indispensable to urban life in the rapidly changing country. This book analyzes the ways in which the practices and discourses of domestic service serve to forge and contest emerging class identities in post-reform Vietnam. Drawing on a rich and diverse range of qualitative data, including ethnographies, interviews, and narratives, it shows that such practices and discourses are rooted in cultural notions of gender and rural-urban difference and enduring socialist structures of feeling, which, in turn, clash with the realities of growing differentiation. Domestic workers' experiences reveal negotiations with class boundaries actively set by the urban middle class, who seek distinction through emerging notions and practices of domesticity. These boundaries are nevertheless riddled with gender and class anxiety on the side of the latter, partly because of the very struggles and contestations of the domestic workers. More broadly, Minh T. N. Nguyen links the often invisible intimate dynamics of class formation in the domestic sphere with wider political economic processes in a post-socialist country embarking on marketization while retaining the political control of a party-state. As a pioneering ethnographic study of domestic service in Vietnam today, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asian culture & society, social anthropology, gender studies, human geography and development studies.

This volume addresses issues of precariousness in a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, looking at socio-economic transformations as well as the identity formation and political organizing of precarious people. The collection bridges empirical research with social theory to problematize and analyse the precariat.

The promotion of an enterprise culture and entrepreneurship in India in recent decades has had far-reaching implications beyond the economy, and transformed social and cultural attitudes and conduct. This book brings together pioneering research on the nature of India's enterprise culture, covering a range of different themes: workplace, education, religion, trade, films, media, youth identity, gender relations, class formation and urban politics. Based on extensive empirical and ethnographic research by the contributors, the book shows the myriad manifestations of enterprise culture and the making of the aspiring, enterprising-self in public culture, social practice, and personal lives, ranging from attempts to construct hegemonic ideas in public discourse, to appropriation by individuals and groups with unintended consequences, to forms of contested and contradictory expression. It discusses what is 'new' about enterprise culture and how it relates to pre-existing ideas, and goes on to look at the processes and mechanisms through which enterprise culture is becoming entrenched, as well as how it affects different classes and communities. The book highlights the social and political implications of enterprise culture and how it recasts family and interpersonal relationships as well as personal and collective identity. Illuminating one of the most important aspects of India's current economic and social transformation, this book is of interest to students and scholars of Asian Business, Sociology, Anthropology, Development Studies and Media and Cultural Studies.

Despite calls for a renewal of family values and the proliferation of corporate work-family programs, the goal of achieving a healthy balance between the demands of work and a satisfying family life remains elusive. Dr. Parasuraman, Dr. Greenhaus, and the contributors to this well-balanced and thoughtful volume examine this increasingly prevalent social dilemma from a stakeholder perspective. They see work-family tensions as a multifaceted social issue, and they examine the nature and consequences of these tensions from the viewpoints of individuals, employers, consultants, counseling professionals, and other service providers. Their inclusion of legal, cultural, international, and research perspectives and recognition of the unique concerns of vulnerable groups, such as nonexempt employees and ethnic minorities, add to the breadth of coverage. Academics in the social and behavioral sciences, executive decision-makers in government and business, human resource professionals, and employed men and women interested in achieving work-life balance will find this volume insightful, stimulating, and useful.

The editors have arranged their book into five parts and 21 chapters. Part I provides a broad overview of the environmental factors impacting work and family. It then identifies the critical issues and challenges facing individuals, families, and employees in managing the complex interdependencies between work and family roles. In Part II they provide a view of the issues from the vantage point of specific stakeholders. Part III concentrates on the role of culture in shaping ideology, policies, and practices concerning work and family and the relationships among them. Part IV examines the impact of career development programs on employees and their families. It also discusses the effectiveness of alternative career tracks, various usages of work-family benefits by women and men, and the roles employers and employees can play in legitimizing alternative career paths. Part V concludes the book by examining the cultural barriers to achieving more effective integration of work and family, and by analyzing the appropriate role of key stakeholders in addressing work-family problems.

The hiring of part-time and temporary workers has historically been a mechanism for adjusting imbalances between supply and demand in the labor market. The use of such workers has increased dramatically as technological changes have put a premium on flexibility, and as fringe benefits have come to constitute an increasing percentage of labor costs. Flexibility is sought not only by organizations, but also by individuals: students, women with children, disabled persons, and retirees all benefit by part-time opportunities. Part-Time Work discusses these opportunities, and the risk involved in employment which is sometimes underpaid and devalued, and from which movement to full-time positions is difficult.

This volume represents the work of a cross-section of specialists in labor economics, industrial relations specialists, and social scientists who are engaged in research on the transformation of work in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. Chapters focus on the structural aspects of part-time work, conditions under which such work is performed, constraints imposed on employers by official agencies, and expectations and attitudes of part-time workers rooted in a particular society. Part-Time Work will prove particularly useful to sociologists, labor specialists, and relevant government agencies, organizations, and unions.

Bill Dunn considers and contests accounts of globalization and post-Fordism that see structural economic change in the late Twentieth-century as having fundamentally worsened the conditions and weakened the potential of labour. Including a comparative survey of restructuring in four major industries; automobiles, construction, microelectronics and finance, the book suggests the timing of change and its complex and contradictory nature undermine structural explanations of labour's situation. It redirects attention towards labour's political defeats and own institutional shortcomings.

This book traces the development of paid work for visually impaired people in the UK from the 18th century to the present day. It gives a voice to visually impaired people to talk about their working lives and documents the history of employment from their experience, an approach which is severely lacking in the current literature about visual impairment and employment. By analysing fifty in-depth face-to-face interviews with visually impaired people talking about their working lives (featuring those who have worked in traditional jobs such as telephony, physiotherapy and piano tuning, to those who have pursued more unusual occupations and professions), and grouping them according to occupation and framed by documentary, historical research, these stories can be situated in their broader political, economic, ideological and cultural contexts. The themes that emerge will help to inform present day policy and practice within a context of high unemployment amongst visually impaired people of working age. It is part of a growing literature which gives voice to disabled people about their own lives and which adds to the growing academic discipline of disability studies and the empowerment of disabled people.

Work-life integration is an increasingly hot topic in the media, social research, governments and in people's everyday lives. This volume offers a new type of lens for understanding work-family reconciliation by studying how work-family dynamics are shaped, squeezed and developed between consistent or competing logics in different societies in Europe and the US. The three institutions of "state", "family" and "working life", and their under-explored primary logics of "regulation", "morality" and "economic competitiveness" are examined theoretically as well as empirically throughout the chapters, thus contributing to an understanding of the contemporary challenges within the field of work-family research that combines structure and culture. Particular attention is given to the ways in which the institutions are confronted with various moral norms of good parenthood or motherhood and ideals for family life. Likewise, the logic of policy regulation and gendered family moralities are challenged by the economic logic of working life, based on competition in favour of the most productive workers and organizations. Demonstrating different aspects of what is behind and between the logics of state regulation, morals and market, this innovative volume will appeal to students, teachers and researchers interested in areas such as family studies, welfare state studies, social policy studies, work life studies as well as and gender studies.

The increasing demand for health care and advances in healthcare technologies has exacerbated the present shortage of health personnel. In response to these changes, physicians may choose to offer their services elsewhere. Labor and Health Economics in the Mediterranean Region: Migration and Mobility of Medical Doctors addresses the mobility of physicians in the Mediterranean region within a global context, focusing on the role mobility has played in the global health system in both developed and developing economies. Besides universities and researchers, public and private medical practitioners and agencies can make use of this book to further their knowledge of the changing healthcare industry.

This book focuses on the relationship between European integration, its outputs and national institutional and political settings. It explores the political mechanisms through which the EU plays a role in domestic social policy changes.

This is the first book to challenge the concept of paid work for disabled people as a means to 'independence' and 'self determination'. Recent attempts in many countries to increase the employment rates of disabled people have actually led to an erosion of financial support for many workless disabled people and their increasing stigmatisation as 'scroungers'. Led by the disability movement's concern with the employment choices faced by disabled people, this controversial book uses sociological and philosophical approaches, as well as international examples, to critically engage with possible alternatives to paid work. Essential reading for students, practitioners, activists and anyone interested in relationships between work, welfare and disability.

Cohn lays out a new strategy of how states can produce economic development in poor nations - by considering barber shops, beauty parlours, hotels and restaurants in Brazil. Cohn considers the case of nations with budgetary limits that cannot afford to follow the East Asian model, and finds alternative policies that create jobs and reduce poverty.

Problems associated with work-family conflict do not belong to individual families alone, but have a major social and economic impact on the greater community. This scenario also holds true across sub-Saharan Africa, as nations enter the global economy and rising numbers of women enter the workforce.

One of the first resources to focus on this region, "Work-Family Interface in Sub-Saharan Africa" probes rarely-studied dimensions of conflict between paid employment and family responsibilities. It balances theoretical background, empirical findings, and current and emerging interventions for an insightful and practical review of ongoing issues affecting working women with families. Coverage contrasts concepts of work and family between the developing world and the West, and related social concerns such as gender expectations and sexual harassment are examined in the work context. The book describes a range of family strategies for resolving work-family friction, and chapters end with policy recommendations as first steps toward remedying longstanding challenges. Among the thought-provoking dispatches: Ghana: Managing work and family demandsNigeria: Strain-based family interference with workBotswana: The social impact of job transfer policy on dual-career familiesKenya: The role of household help in work-family balanceSouth Africa: State measures toward work-care integrationZambia: The quest for a family policy

As evinced by these chapters, progress is gradual and far from uniform. As a guide for future study and future policy, "Work-Family Interface in Sub-Saharan Africa" is a substantial reference for sociologists, public health professionals, public and social policymakers, and administrators."

Using over 50 case studies from 22 countries which show how unconventional projects have developed women's earning power, this book is a source of ideas for all those helping to develop cash-producing work for women in developing countries.

A fieldwork-based sociological study of how participants in City of London financial markets view the markets in which they work and the market mechanism in general. It is more than a narrow study of financial market participants because it is also an empirical investigation into how ideologies function and it develops a critique of pro-market ideologies such as "Thatcherism". Finally, it is a sociological study into the privileged world of high earners and the wealthy.

This book compiles empirical evidence on both the challenges raised by neo-liberal policies and the internet to trade unions, and the development of more flexible forms of worker organisation and collective representation. The relationship with digital devices seems inevitably to contribute to differentiating trends, simultaneously acting as an internal and external constraint on organisation. Gathering academics and experts from European and Brazilian universities, this book is recommended for researchers and students in the fields of sociology of work, labour studies and collective action, as well as practitioners and others interested in worker interest organisations and collective representation in the early 21st Century.

The articles in the volume examine the intersection of gender with other characteristics in a variety of settings including factory floors and corporate offices, welfare offices, state legislatures, the armed forces, universities, social clubs and playing fields. Central themes running through several of the articles include how men and women conceive their identities and their futures and talk about and manage their work, family and leisure lives, how women view their bodies and images, and the progress women have - or have not - made in over-coming poverty and advancing in the corporate, legislative and military worlds. The research sites include Canada, Cuba, England, Greece, Israel, Mexico and the United States. As in previous volumes in the series, the authors employ a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and build on the current literature. Most of the articles have policy implications and are designed to stimulate further research. The volume is introduced with an essay by the editor and framed by an article about feminist intersectional research.

Immigrants and their descendants are growing populations that are rapidly changing the racial/ethnic diversity of the United States and many societies across the globe. People migrate for a multitude of reasons but work whether in the high-skilled, low-wage, or informal sectors of the economy or the drive to establish a businesses, is the primary impetus. The goal of this volume is to bring together new empirical research and theoretical innovations from cutting-edge scholarship concentrating on the intersection of immigration and work. Research in this volume investigates how larger structural inequalities in sending and receiving nations, immigrant entry policies, group characteristics, and micro level processes, such as discrimination and access to ethnic networks, shapes labor market outcomes, workplace experiences, and patterns of integration among immigrants and their descendants.

This impressive and original study is one of the first books to combine mainstream sociology with feminism in exploring the subject of the professions and power. This is an important addition to the corpus of feminist scholarship... It provides fresh insights into the way in which male power has been used to limit the employment aspirations of women in the middle classes. - Rosemary Crompton, University of Kent

When the Coalition Government came to power in 2010 in claimed it would deliver not just austerity, as necessary as that apparently was, but also fairness. This volume subjects this pledge to critical interrogation by exposing the interests behind the policy programme pursued and their damaging effects on class inequalities. Situated within a recognition of the longer-term rise of neoliberal politics, reflections on the status of sociology as a source of critique and current debates over the relationship between the cultural and economic dimensions of social class, the contributors cover an impressively wide range of relevant topics, from education, family policy and community to crime and consumption, shedding new light on the experience of domination in the early 21st Century.

This book presents conceptual tools and theoretical perspectives that can be used to sociologically analyze labour markets in modern capitalist societies. It makes use of the rich heritage of sociological thinking and draws on the classical work of Marx, Weber and Durkheim as well as structural-functionalist contributions. Contemporary sociological thinking is criticized for its tendency to exaggerate change in labour markets while the need to consider continuity is emphasized. Conceptual tools and perspectives are applied based on concrete phenomena, as the author combines abstract theoretical reasoning with theoretically founded reflections on actual labour market developments.

This text presents the outcomes of a major 14-country project aimed at empowering girls and young women. It provides a discussion of their choices in life, comparing factors such as family background, health, education, employment opportunities and the use of and access to the internet.