Sociology and the Future of Work
Contemporary Discourses and Debates

This study presents a forward-looking approach to the sociology of work. It reviews classical accounts such as those of Marx, Weber and Durkheim, and provides a specific treatment of such topics as technological change, the impact of gender and economic globalization.

For example, that it is not possible to provide a "unifying" explanation of gender inequality at work because its causes are multiple rather than singular; that it is wrong to imply that work will cease to be an important basis of personal identity; and that evidence of economic globalization is far too patchy to justify the claim that we are all living in a "global economy". The text combines theoretical analysis with clear descriptions of the key arguments, and tests these against empirical data.

Part 1 The narrative of industrialism: a typical narrative of work
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Emile Durkheim
industrialism and the future of work. Part 2 The narrative of post-industrialism, post-Fordism and flexibility: post-industrial society
post-Fordism and flexibility
the work paradigm. Part 3 The new technological paradigm: the technological paradigm of microelectronics
the question of skill and quality of working life
management, organization and control. Part 4 Feminist perspectives and the future of work: patriarchy
social reproduction
gender ideologies of work
segregation and the occupational sex-typing of jobs
women and the future of work. Part 5 Work, identity and the production/consumption debate: identity crisis
the work/non-work divide
the production/consumption divide
the new individualism. Part 6 Economic globalization and the future of work: the antinomies of the concept globalization
the future narrative of world capitalism
globalization and the future of late-industrialism
the global future of work in the "network society". Part 7 Work futures.