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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Work & labour
As paid work becomes increasingly central in women's lives, the history of their labor struggles assumes more and more importance. This volume represents the best of the new feminist scholarship in twentieth-century U.S. women's labor history. Fourteen original essays illuminate the complex relationship between gender, consciousness and working-class activism, and deepen historical understanding of the contradictory legacy of trade unionism for women workers. The contributors take up a wide range of specific subjects, and write from diverse theoretical perspectives. Some of the essays are case studies of women's participation in individual unions, organizing efforts, or strikes; others examine broader themes in women's labor history, focusing on a specific time period; and still others explore the situation of particular categories of women workers over a longer time span. This collection extends the scope of current research and interpretation in women's labor history, both conceptually and in terms of periodization - emphasis is placed on the post-World War I period where the literature is sparse. This book will be valuable for scholars, students and general readers alike.
Much of the debate on the future of work has focused on responses to technological trends in the Global North, with little evidence on how these trends are impacting work and workers in the Global South. Drawing on a rich selection of ethnographic studies of precarious work in Africa, this innovative book discusses how globalisation and digitalisation are drivers for structural change and examines their implications for labour. Bringing together global labour studies and inequality studies, it explores the role of digital technology in new business models, and ways in which digitalisation can be harnessed for counter mobilisation by the new worker.
Based on findings from several international surveys concerning work environment and job attitudes, Sengoku discusses and analyzes the differences in and cultural bases of the work ethics of Japan, England, and the United States. In his comparisons of different national work settings and of different generations of Japanese workers, Sengoku probes the anatomy of a significant change that is taking place in Japan today--the erosion of traditional values among the new generation of Japanese workers to the point that American youth may actually be more work-oriented now than their Japanese counterparts.
Based on a unique comparative analysis of the education and work experiences of those who lived through the political and labour market changes of the transition to post-communism, the authors argue that, far from catching up with the rest of Germany, the social polarisations and erosion of the traditional 'dual system' of vocational education and training in Eastern Germany may portend the future for the West. The issues raised have considerable resonances with the problems and contradictions which have beset British education and training and labour market policy over the last decade.
This timely book is about raising awareness of the rights of disabled people to full equality and participation in all areas. It aims to show that disability is an issue of concern to all of us. It is for university faculty staff teaching courses on education law and policy and serves as a resource for students conducting research, government officials, and professionals in these fields.
Britain's high street revolution has made retailing one of the most important and dynamic sectorsof the British economy in the last twenty years. It has had an irreversible impact on our towns and cities and, for many people, transformed shopping from an unattractive domestic chore to a pleasurable 'leisure 'experience', offering consumers an everchanging array of 'disposable dreams'. The resulting 'retail culture' is everywhere - it has colonised huge areas of our social life outside the traditional high street, from sporting venues to arts centres, from railway termini to museums. Many see it as the epitome of Thatcher's Britain, breeding acquisitive individualism and destroying our traditional manufacturing base. Others see it as a potential saviour of an ailing economy. Yet to date there has been no thorough analysis of this all-pervasive phenomenon, from its economic roots to its profound social effects. In Consuming Passion, Carl Gardner and Julie Sheppard have written the first overall study of the 'retail revolution' - a controversial and hard-hitting look at where retailing has come from, what it has achieved and where it is going. Key issues such as the role of design, the growth of the supermarket and shopping centre and the poor conditions of retail employment are all minutely examined. The book also discusses the very real pleasures that consumers gain from today's enhanced shopping experience. The authors take an iconoclastic look at some of the powerful myths that have sprung up around retail: 'the death of the high street' scenario; the central role of credit; retailing as a major creator of employment; and the imminent possibility of 'retail saturation'. A fascinating book for everyone who likes shopping - and even those who hate it. First published 1989.
Changes in the philosophy of planning and the political influences behind it have led to an increasingly ambivalent approach to retail and commercial matters and a lack of clear goals and objectives as to what both central government and the local authorities should be concerned with. At the same time, changes within the distribution industry have brought new pressures to bear upon the environment which the conventional planning process seems ill-equipped to accommodate. This book, by an established leading authority, takes stock of the new problems to be confronted and provides the rudiments of an alternative planning approach to dealing with them. It begins by examining the growth of office blocks and shopping centres, and goes on to analyse and criticise the existing planning processes, suggesting alternative procedures. It looks at the dual needs of development on the one hand and renovation and redevelopment on the other and discusses how these should be dealt with in the future. More specific problems are also examined: the impact created by new shopping schemes, the decline of small shops and related activities, the conflict over transport demands and provisions and the special physical needs of particular urban and rural environments. Throughout, the argument is supported by detailed examples of particular developments. Originally published 1984.
Legislative and institutional affirmative and positive action policies, intended to increase accessibility and the participation of historically disadvantaged groups in employment and education, have been with us for some time, particularly in Anglo Saxon countries. One of the major issues they are intended to address is gender inequality. Proponents of these policies have hailed quota initiatives as a key to promoting equal opportunities and reducing discrimination. At the same time, affirmative action policies and processes have been challenged in courts and have caused controversy in educational establishments, highlighting the fact that these practices can have negative consequences. Exploring the application of quotas and affirmative action at an institutional or organizational level from a variety of different perspectives, the contributions in Diversity Quotas, Diverse Perspectives provide an understanding of the complexity and controversial nature of policies and actions in different countries. Even within Europe, implementation has varied widely from country to country. For example, while most European countries have employment quotas for people with disabilities, there is little consistency among the European Union's member states when it comes to quotas and other policies relating to ethnic minorities in employment and educational settings. Focussing here particularly on gender-related initiatives, but raising questions pertinent to other aspects of diversity, the contributions from international researchers investigate variances between and differing justifications for policies. The book offers a global perspective on the subject and expands the discussion of it beyond Anglo-Saxon contexts.
The 'Indian Techie' has become a global icon, taking its place alongside McDonalds and MTV as one of the key symbols of contemporary globalization. India and the IT Revolution explores the contemporary emergence of cosmopolitan, high-tech India as marking the arrival of a truly global cyberculture. It argues against the notion that globalization is a process of 'Westernization', which radiates out unilaterally from the core, imposing itself upon a passive, backward periphery. Instead, it conceives of global culture as a dynamic, innovative network, which proceeds primarily from its edges.
This unique book breaks original ground in management and organization studies by drawing on over 21/2 years of ethnographic study in a major UK international airport group. Much has been written about the 'McDonaldisation' or 'Disneyization' of society, but few have been attentive to what the author terms 'Loungification of society'. A minor mode of organization, but one whose effects are likely to become ever more profound, this study shows how management and organization is itself being reconstructed and reshaped by way of loungification. Drawing on critical management studies, actor-network theory, and debates in contemporary anthropology around the so-called ontological turn, Reconstructing Organization enacts a veritable experiment in business and management studies. Who are these coming loungers? What do they want? Can we manage them? Or will they soon capture us with their talking chairs and 'crinicultural' politics?
This work explores essential debates on globalization and world-systems analysis. It begins with a review of theoretical insights from world-systems analysis and explains the evolution of its terminology. The book subsequently seeks to answer several important questions: When did globalization begin and what insights into contemporary globalization may be gained from older forms? How does globalization differ in different places, and how can different instances of globalization be compared? Who is affected by globalization, how are they affected, and how do these effects vary, if at all, over time and space? As world-systems analysis and studies of globalization require interdisciplinary expertise, the contributing authors draw on many fields, including anthropology, economics, geography, philosophy, political science, sociology, and world history. The book's overall goal is to facilitate the dialogue between approaches that, at times, seem to "talk at cross-purposes," and to extend an invitation to scholars from many different areas to explore globalization.
This book presents the theory of integrating implification and it provides a profound evidence based study of Buurtzorg Nederland. The case itself, forming the building block of the theory, has received tremendous interest in the Netherlands and abroad. This is the first international book on Buurtzorg Nederland and the first one departing from a management multidisciplinary perspective. The book demonstrates theory building by using the Grounded Theory Methodology as a way to contribute to management theory. Integrating simplification gives room for context specific implementation of organizational innovation to different industries.
This book explores the gender issues associated with international migration in dual career households. Adopting a feminist approach, the author links research in economics, sociology, management and business and human geography to explore post-industrial managerial and professional careers. Particular emphasis is placed on the way in which social mobility and spatial mobility are entwined. The author explores the location and mobility decisions of dual career households, examining their personal and household biographies as well as published statistics. Of essential interest to scholars of human geography, sociology and gender studies, this book will also interest those working in organizational, migration and urban studies.
This book offers fresh insights into how companies can engage with, and make use of, the modern metropolis. Based on actor-network theory and the resource-based view of the firm, it demonstrates how the contemporary city can be seen - and used - as a resource for corporate innovation. The main argument is that companies have to build what the author calls "urban innovation networks." After a theory-based outline of such networks, the author demonstrates the extent to which different institutional players - companies such as Audi, Ikea and Siemens, but also arts institutions like the Haus der Kunst in Munich - are already working to create them. The book combines management thinking with urban theory and the sociology of networks to create a unique blend of different views of capitalism and space, offering a new perspective on both the modern metropolis and globally operating companies active within our distinctly urban culture.
Over the last decade workforce diversity has attracted much scientific attention. Given the shortage of literature on issues related to homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees, compared to other facets of workforce diversity, this book opens up new perspectives on this issue. Emphasis is placed on the equal consideration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues. Thus the predominance of lesbian and gay issues in LGBT research (and practice), will be contrasted by an explicit consideration of the unique experiences, stressors and related needs of bisexual and transgender employees. Contributions provide deeper insights into the differing experiences the whole spectrum of LGBT employees make in the workplace in different national and occupational contexts. Furthermore, the collection offers contextualized insights for evaluating and conceptualizing organizational initiatives aiming at a higher level of inclusion for LGBT employees.
This book provides a fine-grained ethnographic examination of the everyday negotiations and conflicts taking place in greenhouses and packinghouses in an agricultural district in south-eastern Italy (Sicily). In a highly competitive global scenario, driven by multinational corporations and large retailers, small and medium-sized farms largely rely on migrant labour to fill their demand for casualized, flexible and low-paid jobs. By taking the reader into the 'plastic factories' where the author was hired as a farmworker, this book sheds light on the struggles - around the employment contract, the wage and the body - which take place every day between employers and employees. The book contributes to broadening the understanding of the dynamics innervating food production worldwide by recognizing the pivotal role of migrant labour not only as a factor in the restructuring of global supply chains, but also as an actor shaping these processes through its own unpredictable strategies.
This volume deals with issues of widespread interest including, the origins of investor rights in different markets, the political, legal and economic conditions that determine levels of shareholder participation, and the implications of variation in investor rights.
Many older people, indeed the majority, have many years of relatively good health after the usual retirement age. Contrary to widely accepted stereotypes, evidence indicates that those who wish to use their skills and abilities for productive contributions may encounter significant barriers. Bass, Caro, and Chen and the experts who contributed to the volume provide an original reassessment of the current options available to older people. The authors argue that polices, practices, and societal messages help determine what choices are realistically open to older individuals. The attitudes and policies of family, workplace, and government as well as those of educational and religious institutions all contribute to defining what opportunities really are available for older people. The authors show, too, that considerations of gender and ethnicity are powerful in their impact on what those in the later years of life may or may not do. Although leisure is attractive to many in their elder years, the authors stress that it is but one of the number of choices that should be available. Employment, volunteering, and other new productive roles should not be denied to those who want to continue them and who, in the process, enrich their own and society's well-being. The authors provide authoritative analysis and new perspectives on aging.
This book is an ethnographic study of the multi-linear process of racial knowledge formation among a relatively invisible population in the Chinese American community in Chicago, namely the working class. Shanshan Lan defines "Chinese immigrant workers" as Chinese immigrants with limited English language skills who work primarily at low-skill, blue-collar service jobs at the extreme margins of U.S. economy. The book moves away from the enclave paradigm by situating the Chinese immigrant experience within the larger context of transnational labor migration and the multiracial transformation of urban U.S. landscape. Through thick ethnographic descriptions, Lan explores Chinese immigrant workers' daily struggles to cope with the disjuncture between race as an American ideological construct and race as a lived experience. The book argues that Chinese immigrant workers' racial learning is not always a matter of personal choice, but is conditioned by structural factors such as the limitation of the Black and white racial binary, the transnational circulation of U.S. racial ideology, the negative influence of prevalent U.S. rhetoric such as multiculturalism and colorblindness, and class differentiations within the Chinese American community.
Unemployment is one of the most politically explosive issues in China and has gained further prominence as a result of the present global financial crisis. The novelty, urgency, and complexity of Chinese unemployment have compelled the government to experiment with policy initiatives that originate in the West, initiatives such as training programmes, career and psychological counselling, a web-based national labour-market information network, and labour-market insurance, and also other employment-related initiatives such as using community (shequ) organizations as the base for new mechanisms of governance and informal job generation. This book examines these initiatives which represent China's attempt to institutionalize, professionalize and humanize its approach to governance, drawing heavily on international norms and standards in employment regulation. Based on extensive original research including semi-structured interviews, the book argues that although the Chinese government is not a liberal democracy, it is increasingly using liberal techniques to govern. The book discusses the ways in which the government combines the new techniques with old campaign-style policy techniques, which not only makes the state's power visible, but also allows it to claim credit for managing unemployment.
Does flexible working really provide a better work-life balance? Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many workers. This volume offers an original examination of flexible working using data from 30 European countries and drawing on studies conducted in Australia, the US and India. Rather than providing a better work-life balance, the book reveals how flexible working can lead to exploitation, which manifests differently for women and men, such as more care responsibilities or increased working hours. Taking a critical stance, this book investigates the potential risks and benefits of flexible working and provides crucial policy recommendations for overcoming the negative consequences.
Workers providing social and health care services lie at the heart of migration patterns underpinning current gobalization processes. Using a 'global care chains' perspective the author describes and analyses the experiences of migrant care workers, maps the extent, forms and governance of care services internationalisation and considers the policy implications in developed and developing countries. This multi-disciplinary analysis draws on original empirical research and advances a theoretical perspective that sheds new light on contemporary and historical dimensions of this migration.
This new handbook builds on The Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations published in 2007, and is the only resource defining the field of study related to small nonprofit organizations and to studying communities from the standpoint of associations that make up communities. It explores the history and conceptualizations of community, theoretical concepts in community organizations, social movements ranging from health to crime, and community practice methods. Further it provides authoritative statements of major theory areas, gives examples of different sub areas of the field, provides guidance to people working as practitioners in the field, and nicely coincides with the increasing interest in clinical sociology. This handbook is of great interest to academics, students and practitioners with an interdisciplinary resource to understand and collaborate in work with contemporary communities.
This book examines the way in which professional work - specifically accountancy - has been affected by the changes within the global economy over the last twenty years. It examines the commercialisation of accountancy, finding it directly related to the shift by capital away from the consensus it had entered into with labour during the post-war boom. The book argues that this transformation polarised the class structure of the advanced economies and seeks to explain the impact this transformation has had on the socialisation and promotional processes currently experienced by one group of professionals who have benefited from this change. In doing so, it puts forward a coherent explanation for the loss of auditor independnece and hence to the increase in auditing failures. The book also argues that what accountancy has experienced may increasingly emerge in other professions including medicine, law and teaching, as governments seek to expose them to market forces.
First published in 1977, this Routledge Revival is a reissue of the first comprehensive sociological study of the role of the personnel manager, which considers both the individual experience of the person working in this field and the role the occupation plays in the management of employing organizations. In the process of studying the individual experience and the organisational and social contributions of personnel managers, the book represents a step towards a sociology of work which draws on and contributes to the mainstream of sociological theory. |
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