Chapter Seven

1
Chapter Seven

• Work and Economic Life

2
Objectives

• To provide an introduction to the debates on how
  work is defined by sociologists and others.
• To review the global and local changes in the way
  that economic production is organised and
  managed.
• To identity who participates in the labour market
  and paid work, and who is excluded.

3
Defining Work

• Expenditure of human effort and energy in
  providing some good or in transforming part of
  the world, however small. (p. 117)
• Sociologists interested in the way that work is
  defined and socially constructed
• Includes paid and unpaid work
• Does not include leisure activities
• Defining leisure can be problematic

4
Founding Fathers

• Marx, Weber and Durkheim all contributed to
  sociological understandings of work
• Marx
• Work in Capitalist society benefits some and
  disadvantages/exploits others
• Weber
• Interested in the organisation of work, and its
  bureaucratic and rational characteristics
• Durkheim
• Focused on work and the division of labour

5
Industrialisation

• Developed during the nineteenth century in Europe
• In an industrial society work was
• Performed outside the home
• Based on an exchange of work for wages
• Performed predominantly by men
• Structured around the needs of the employer and
  the machinery of the factory
• Based on a Fordist style of work
• Mass production and mass consumption

6
De-industrialisation

• Developed in the late twentieth century
• De-industrialisation is characterised by
• A decline in factory-type work
• Uncertainty in employment
• Rising unemployment and poverty
• De-unionisation and the loss of favourable
  conditions for workers
• Based on a Post-Fordist style of work
• Workers must be flexible and internationally
  mobile

7
Work and Inequality

• The labour market is divided into those who are
  privileged and those who are not
• Based in part on access to well-paid employment
• Some people more likely to be excluded from
  well-paid work than others
• Women
• Ethnic Minorities

8
The Dual Labour Market

• Highlights distinction between primary sector and
  secondary sector
• Primary sector characterised by
• Good wages
• Good working conditions
• Domination by men
• Secondary sector characterised by
• Low wages
• Part-time and casual work
• Domination by women

9
Summary

• Marx, Weber and Durkheim were interested in
  various aspects of the role of work in society
• There have been two major changes in the nature
  of work over the last 200 years
• Industrialisation and de-industrialisation
• De-industrialisation has increased income
  inequality
• Especially for women and ethnic minorities