Work

Description

This book provides a critical overview of the myriad literatures on work, viewed not only as a product of the marketplacebut also as a social and political construct. Drawing ontheoretical and empirical contributions from sociology, history,economics, and organizational studies, the book brings togetherperspectives that too often remain balkanized, using each toexplore the nature of work today. Outlining the fundamental principles that unite social sciencethinking about work, Vallas offers an original discussion of themajor theoretical perspectives that inform workplace analysis,including Marxist, interactionist, feminist, and institutionalistschools of thought. Chapters are devoted to the labor process, toworkplace flexibility, to gender and racial inequalities at work,and to the link between globalization and the structure of work andauthority today. Major topics include the relation between work andidentity; the relation between workplace culture and managerialcontrol; and the performance of emotional labo