Sociology, work and industry / Tony J. Watson

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-378) and indexes

Chapter 1 Studying work and society People, work and society Thinking about work sociologically Choices, constraints and opportunities in work and society Work and the sociological imagination Sociology, critique and democratic debate about work Sociology and the emergence of industrial societies The continuing challenge Sociology and the informing of democratic choices about work Sociology and the future of work Researching and theorising work patterns and experiences Sociology as science Theory, work and society A range of research methods Methodological assumptions Coping with the variety of orientation in the sociology of work and industry Chapter 2 The sociological analysis of work and industry Six strands of thought in the sociology of work The managerial-psychologistic strand Scientific management Psychological humanism Discussion The Durkheim-systems strand Emile Durkheim Human relations and the Hawthorne studies Systems thinking in industrial sociology Corporate cultures Discussion The interactionist strand The Chicago school and symbolic interactionism Organisations as negotiated orders Ethnomethodology Discussion The Weber-interpretive strand Max Weber Orientations to work Institutional theories and the social construction of reality Discussion Marx and Engels Marxian industrial sociology and labour process analysis Discussion The poststructuralist strand and postmodernism Postmodernism Poststructuralist labour process thinking, Foucault, discourse and human subjectivity Discussion Towards a language-sensitive but not language-centred sociology of work and organisation Chapter 3 Work, society and globalisation The nature of modern societies The emergence of industrial capitalism From feudalism to capitalism Protestantism and the spirit of capitalism Social groups and the rise of industrialism Industrialisation and the changing division of labour Technology, science and social change Industrial capitalism: change and transition? Post-industrialism and the information society Post-Fordism Flexible specialisation Postmodernity Globalisation, convergence and internationalisation McDonaldisation and the blurring of the manufacturing-service distinction Globalisation in perspective Chapter 4 Work organisations The organisational principle of work structuring The nature of work organisations Official and unofficial aspects of organisations Organisational structures and cultures Official structure and culture: basic organisational design principles Bureaucracy Classical administrative principles Taylorism and Fordism The limits of bureaucracy and the paradox of consequences The virtues of bureaucracy, virtual organisations and the fantasy of the post-bureaucratic organisation Contingency and choice in the shaping of organisational structures and cultures Micropolitics, careers and unofficial management practices Vertical aspects Horizontal aspects Unofficial practices and bureaucratic dysfunctions Ambiguity and decision processes Chapter 5 The changing organisation and management of work Work restructuring and the logic of corporate management The logic of corporate management Choice and circumstance in the shaping of employment or ¿human resourcing¿ practices Labour processes and employment practice options HRM and the choice between ¿high commitment¿ and ¿low commitment¿ human resourcing strategies The pursuit of flexibility new work control practices Teamworking and control Lean production and process-re-engineering Change and continuity in HR strategies and work practices Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and control Culture management and worker subjectivity Chapter 6 Occupations, inequality and varieties of work The occupational principle of work structuring Occupational structure, class, status and inequality Locating an occupation in the class structure Ownership, control and the class location of managers Status and the ¿first line manager¿ Status and dirty work Labour market segmentation and non-standard employment Part-time and temporary work Home and teleworking Work outside employment Self employment Paid work in the informal economy Domestic work Voluntary work Gender and inequality Changing historical patterns Contemporary patterns Explaining patterns Ethnicity and inequality Occupational recruitment and socialisation Occupational careers Occupational identity, culture and ideology Occupational communities Professionalisation and occupational strategies Chapter 7 Work experiences, identities and meanings Work, meaning and culture Entering work Choice and opportunity structures Class, family and educational influences Work and satisfaction Technology, work experience and alienation Work orientations: variations, dynamics and the negotiation of implicit contracts Dynamic work orientations and changing worker priorities Dynamic work orientations and the negotiation of implicit contracts Patterns of work orientation and experience within the organisational hierarchy Women¿s preferences, choices and work orientations Identity, discourse and work experience Identity, discourse and identity work Portfolio and ¿boundaryless careers¿ or ¿one dead end job after another¿ Managerial orientations and experiences Anxiety, emotion and sexuality at work Angst in the human condition and in managerial work specifically The rise of the stress discourse Emotions and feelings Emotional labour, emotion management and aesthetic labur Sexuality and the workplace Work and non-working lives Work, leisure and work-life balance Unemployment Chapter 8 Conflict, challenge and resistance in work Conflict and cooperation at work Analysing conflict at work Frames of reference Unitary thinking Pluralist analyses Radical perspectives Contradictions and conflicts Effort bargains, fragile implicit contracts and the inevitability of grievances The mobilisation of interests Coalitions and interests Trade unions and collective bargaining Changing patterns of employer-union relations Shop stewards and workplace representation Job control strategies and ¿making out¿ Adjustment, resistance and organisational mischief Accommodation, subjectivity and values Withdrawal, instrumentalism and the management of boredom Humour at work Bullying and sexual harassment Cheating, fiddling and breaking things Rule manipulatio Service work and defence of self

This popular text effectively explains and justifies the use of the sociological imagination to understand the nature of institutions of work, occupations, organizations, management and employment, and how they are changing in the twenty-first century. With outstanding breadth of coverage, it provides an authoritative overview of both traditional and emergent themes in the sociological study of work; explains the basic logic of sociological analysis of work and work-related institutions and provides an appreciation of different theoretical traditions. It considers: the direction and implications of trends in technological change, globalization, labour markets, work organization, managerial practices and employment relations the extent to which these trends are intimately related to changing patterns of inequality in modern societies and to the changing experiences of individuals and families the ways in which workers challenge, resist and make their own contributions to the patterning of work and shaping of work institutions. New features include an easy to read layout, key issues questions, mini case studies, chapter summaries, and a fantastic Companion Website which is packed full of useful resources (for students and teachers). All of these elements – and much more – provide the reader with a text unrivalled in the field. [Publisher Summary]