The Sociology of Work
Continuity and Change in Paid and Unpaid Work
2nd Edition
Published on 16. December 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-1-84920-413-2 (ISBN)
Description
"A highly readable and approachable account of the sociology of work... a first-rate introductory text that is sure to become essential reading for students, teachers, and researchers."
- Jason Hughes, Brunel University
"An excellent text. Its comparative and historical sweep is particularly welcome and the analysis provided is thoughtful and well grounded."
- John Eldridge, University of Glasgow
"An invaluable and up-to-date text for students and researchers. Detailed and wide-ranging in its scope it is an excellent source of materials combined with a thought provoking and challenging set of arguments."
- Huw Beynon, Cardiff University
Stephen Edgell's book charts the rise of 'work' and explores all aspects of work including paid and unpaid, standard and non-standard and unemployment. New material has been incorporated covering the theories and practices of globalization, interactive service work, economic crisis, technological and organizational change, and trade unions. Drawing on classic and contemporary theorists, the book:
Covers key issues regarding paid industrial and service sector work: alienation, skill, post-industrial society, network enterprises, flexibility, Fordism, neo-Fordism, post-Fordism, McDonaldization, emotional labour, destandardization and the social impact of unemployment.
Discusses key issues regarding non-paid work: domestic work as 'work', the impact of technology, symmetrical family thesis, the impact of feminism, and globalization.
Provides student friendly pedagogy: suggestions for further reading, questions for discussion and assessment, an extensive glossary and links to key websites and downloadable articles.
This latest edition will be welcomed by lecturers and students wanting an authoritative guide to the sociology of work.
- Jason Hughes, Brunel University
"An excellent text. Its comparative and historical sweep is particularly welcome and the analysis provided is thoughtful and well grounded."
- John Eldridge, University of Glasgow
"An invaluable and up-to-date text for students and researchers. Detailed and wide-ranging in its scope it is an excellent source of materials combined with a thought provoking and challenging set of arguments."
- Huw Beynon, Cardiff University
Stephen Edgell's book charts the rise of 'work' and explores all aspects of work including paid and unpaid, standard and non-standard and unemployment. New material has been incorporated covering the theories and practices of globalization, interactive service work, economic crisis, technological and organizational change, and trade unions. Drawing on classic and contemporary theorists, the book:
Covers key issues regarding paid industrial and service sector work: alienation, skill, post-industrial society, network enterprises, flexibility, Fordism, neo-Fordism, post-Fordism, McDonaldization, emotional labour, destandardization and the social impact of unemployment.
Discusses key issues regarding non-paid work: domestic work as 'work', the impact of technology, symmetrical family thesis, the impact of feminism, and globalization.
Provides student friendly pedagogy: suggestions for further reading, questions for discussion and assessment, an extensive glossary and links to key websites and downloadable articles.
This latest edition will be welcomed by lecturers and students wanting an authoritative guide to the sociology of work.
Reviews / Votes
This is a highly readable and approachable account of the sociology of work. With the additional material included in this new edition, Edgell brings the topic squarely into the 21st Century. The book provides excellent coverage of many of the key debates within the field in a lucid, yet succinct manner. All of the principal issues and controversies are placed into historical perspective, with a consistent focus on key developments, transitions, continuities and discontinuities within patterns of work and employment. Edgell demonstrates excellent command of a wide-ranging subject matter, rendering intelligible a broad set of interrelated themes. In short, this is a first-rate introductory text that is sure to become essential reading for students, teachers, and researchers who are interested in this fieldJason Hughes
Senior Lecturer, Brunel University
The Sociology of Work is an excellent text. Its comparative and historical sweep is particularly welcome and the analysis provided is thoughtful and well grounded. Stephen Edgell is to be congratulated for successfully updating and refreshing the original text and for providing such a valuable and accessible resource
John Eldridge
Emeritus Professor, University of Glasgow
The second edition of Steve Edgell's book is an invaluable and up-to-date text for students and researchers. Detailed and wide-ranging in its scope it is an excellent source of materials combined with a thought provoking and challenging set of arguments
Huw Beynon
Professor, Cardiff University
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 170 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84920-413-2 (9781849204132)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
11/2019
3rd Edition
SAGE Publications Ltd
€84.60
Shipment within 15-20 days
Previous edition
Book
12/2005
1st Edition
SAGE Publications Inc
€53.41
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Stephen Edgell is a Research Professor of Sociology at the University of Salford, England. He has undertaken qualitative research Middle Class Couples: A Study of Segregation, Domination and Inequality in Marriage (Allen & Unwin, 1980), quantitative research A Measure of Thatcherism: A Sociology of Britain (Unwin Hyman, 1991, co-author Vic Duke), and archival research Veblen in Perspective: His Life and Thought (Taylor & Francis, 2001), and has published numerous articles in a wide-range of British, American and European social science journals. A career-long interest in the sociology of work culminated in the publication of a textbook entitled The Sociology of Work: Continuity and Change in Paid and Unpaid Work in 2006 and a revised 2nd edition in 2012. He is the co-editor of The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Work and Employment (2016), along with Heidi Gottfried and Edward Granter.
Content
Chapter 1: The Historical Transformation of Work
Work in pre-industrial societies
Work in industrial capitalist societies
Main features of work in industrial capitalist societies
Capitalist industrialization and the primacy of work
Crises and industrial capitalism
Technological and organizational change
The rise of trade unions
Women and work in the development of industrial capitalism
The dominant conception of work in industrial capitalism
Chapter 2: Work and Alienation
Marx's theory of alienation
Blauner's technology and alienation thesis
Critique of Blauner's technology and alienation thesis
Empirical research on the Blauner thesis
Chapter 3: Work and Deskilling
Braverman's deskilling thesis
Critique of Braverman's deskilling thesis
Braverman's supporters
Chapter 4: Work, Upskilling and Polarization
Bell's upskilling thesis
Critique of Bell's upskilling thesis
Bell`s supporters
The polarization of skill?
Chapter 5: Industrial Work: Fordism, Neo-Fordism and Post-Fordism
The rise of Fordism
The development of Fordism beyond the workplace
The decline of Fordism
Solutions to the crisis of Fordism: neo-Fordism and post-Fordism
Chapter 6: Service Work: Fordism, Neo-Fordism and Post-Fordism
Interactive service work
The rise of Fordism and interactive service work
Interactive service work: neo-Fordism and post-Fordism
Knowledge work and the Fordist model of change
Chapter 7: Non-Standard Work
The destandardization of work thesis
Contractural destandardization: self-employment
Spatial destandardization: homeworking
Temporal destandardization: temporary and part time work
Critical evaluation of the destandardization thesis
Chapter 8: Out of Work: Unemployment
Unemployment: meaning and measurement
Jahoda`s deprivation theory of unemployment
Class, age and gender, and the impact of unemployment
Critical evaluation of Jahoda`s deprivation theory of unemployment
Chapter 9: Domestic Work
The sociology of domestic work
Domestic work: conditions and technology
The symmetrical family thesis
Critical evaluation of the symmetrical family thesis
Explanations of the unequal division of domestic labour
Outsourcing domestic work
Chapter 10: Globalization: Paid and Unpaid Work
Globalization
Causes of globalization
Globalization in action: call centres
The transformation of paid work?
The transformation of unpaid work?
Concluding remarks: continuity and change and `work`
Work in pre-industrial societies
Work in industrial capitalist societies
Main features of work in industrial capitalist societies
Capitalist industrialization and the primacy of work
Crises and industrial capitalism
Technological and organizational change
The rise of trade unions
Women and work in the development of industrial capitalism
The dominant conception of work in industrial capitalism
Chapter 2: Work and Alienation
Marx's theory of alienation
Blauner's technology and alienation thesis
Critique of Blauner's technology and alienation thesis
Empirical research on the Blauner thesis
Chapter 3: Work and Deskilling
Braverman's deskilling thesis
Critique of Braverman's deskilling thesis
Braverman's supporters
Chapter 4: Work, Upskilling and Polarization
Bell's upskilling thesis
Critique of Bell's upskilling thesis
Bell`s supporters
The polarization of skill?
Chapter 5: Industrial Work: Fordism, Neo-Fordism and Post-Fordism
The rise of Fordism
The development of Fordism beyond the workplace
The decline of Fordism
Solutions to the crisis of Fordism: neo-Fordism and post-Fordism
Chapter 6: Service Work: Fordism, Neo-Fordism and Post-Fordism
Interactive service work
The rise of Fordism and interactive service work
Interactive service work: neo-Fordism and post-Fordism
Knowledge work and the Fordist model of change
Chapter 7: Non-Standard Work
The destandardization of work thesis
Contractural destandardization: self-employment
Spatial destandardization: homeworking
Temporal destandardization: temporary and part time work
Critical evaluation of the destandardization thesis
Chapter 8: Out of Work: Unemployment
Unemployment: meaning and measurement
Jahoda`s deprivation theory of unemployment
Class, age and gender, and the impact of unemployment
Critical evaluation of Jahoda`s deprivation theory of unemployment
Chapter 9: Domestic Work
The sociology of domestic work
Domestic work: conditions and technology
The symmetrical family thesis
Critical evaluation of the symmetrical family thesis
Explanations of the unequal division of domestic labour
Outsourcing domestic work
Chapter 10: Globalization: Paid and Unpaid Work
Globalization
Causes of globalization
Globalization in action: call centres
The transformation of paid work?
The transformation of unpaid work?
Concluding remarks: continuity and change and `work`