Sociology: work and labour Books

Book SynopsisAn eye-opening look at how all American workers, even the highly educated and experienced, are vulnerable to the stigma of unemployment. After receiving a PhD in mathematics from MIT, Larry spent three decades working at prestigious companies in the tech industry. Initially he was not worried when he lost his job as part of a large layoff, but the prolonged unemployment that followed decimated his finances and nearly ended his marriage. Larry''s story is not an anomaly. The majority of American workers experience unemployment, and millions get trapped in devastating long-term unemployment, including experienced workers with advanced degrees from top universities. How is it possible for even highly successful careers to suddenly go off the rails? In The Stigma Trap, Ofer Sharone explains how the stigma of unemployment can render past educational and professional achievements irrelevant, and how it leaves all American workers vulnerable to becoming trapped in unemployment. Drawing on in

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Book SynopsisA startling discoverythat job market success after college is largely randomforces a reappraisal of education, opportunity, and the American dream. As a gateway to economic opportunity, a college degree is viewed by many as America's great equalizer. And it's true: wealthier, more connected, and seemingly better-qualified students earn exactly the same pay as their less privileged peers. Yet, the reasons why may have little to do with bootstraps or self-improvementit might just be dumb luck. That's what sociologist Jessi Streib proposes in The Accidental Equalizer, a conclusion she reaches after interviewing dozens of hiring agents and job-seeking graduates. Streib finds that luck shapes the hiring process from start to finish in a way that limits class privilege in the job market. Employers hide information about how to get ahead and force students to guess which jobs pay the most and how best to obtain them. Without clear routes to success, graduates from all class backgrounds Trade Review"Based on hundreds of interviews with business school graduates and the employers that subsequently hired them, Streib’s book ultimately argues that college is not, in itself, the great equalizer; the impossible-to-navigate job market is." * Inside Higher Education *“[Streib] examines an important segment of the labor market that gets relatively little attention: entry-level positions for midtier jobs . . . Far too much energy and ink are spent on who gets the most elite jobs, who goes to the most elite schools and how terribly unfair the whole process is. Little of that conversation describes the reality for most Americans. The role of the good-but-not-elite college affects far more people and gives us much more insight into the state of economic mobility than Ivy League statistics.” * Wall Street Journal *“One of the biggest myths out there is that the job market, unlike other spheres of life, rewards merit. But it largely rewards luck. Most employers in large mid-tier markets are not seeking excellence. They just want reliable people who can do the job. And that is, in many ways, a good thing, argues sociologist Jessi Streib.” * Los Angeles Review of Books *“That working-class students from state universities do just as well in the job market as better-off students is a remarkable outcome. Even more surprising is that the equalization is actually driven by hiring practices that are so opaque that the graduates are basically flipping coins trying to get hired. Streib’s findings are enormously important for the 80% of all college students who attend those universities and the rocky start it gives their career.” -- Peter Cappelli, author of 'Will College Pay Off?: A Guide to the Most Important Financial Decision You’ll Ever Make'“Do children born into rich families always make more money than their less privileged counterparts? No! Streib shows that the market for college graduates is a booming-buzzing confusion of idiosyncratic standards, misinformation, and rushed decision-making—all of which undermine the iron law that ‘class matters.’ A striking demonstration that illicit advantage can be countered, provided that one’s willing to infuse the market with lots of noise, luck, and chaos.” -- David B. Grusky, coeditor of 'Inequality in the 21st Century: A Reader'“We now know that a college education can limit inequalities related to class origin, but very few scholars have tried to explain why. Streib’s engaging, provocative account seeks to answer this question. Rare is the book that challenges well-established beliefs shared by academics and policymakers. This one delivers.” -- Jake Rosenfeld, author of 'You’re Paid What You’re Worth: And Other Myths of the Modern Economy'Table of ContentsOne: Introducing the Luckocracy Part I: Forming the Luckocracy Two: Hidden Information on Jobs and Pay Three: Hidden Information on Class-Neutral Hiring Criteria Part II: Playing the Game Four: Preparing for the Luckocracy Five: Searching for Jobs Part III: The Consequences and Continuation of the Luckocracy Six: The Consequences of the Luckocracy Seven: The Luckocracy, Redux Eight: Should We Keep America’s Best Equalizing System? Acknowledgments Appendix A: Theoretical Contribution Appendix B: Data and Methods Appendix C: Interview Guides and Questionnaires Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisDrawing on interviews and focus groups with nearly 200 women from a range of backgrounds and occupations – including healthcare workers, educators, and parents – Conscripted to Care reveals how structural inequalities put women on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, yet with inadequate resources and little voice in decision-making.Trade Review“With a thoughtful and intersectional application of feminist political economic theory, Conscripted to Care identifies multiple structures that shifted the responsibility for care onto the women who worked during the COVID-19 response, and informs more equitable pandemic response, recovery, and preparedness. This timely and meaningful analysis of the crisis leaves no excuse for ignoring the unequal effects of the pandemic.” Julia Brassolotto, University of Lethbridge

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Book SynopsisIn this seminal study, Robert Cox offers a new approach to the study of power by identifying the connections between production, the state, and world order.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"By zooming out to include multiple countries and contexts and by zooming in on individual films about women workers, Mennel makes a strong case that European cinema has something important to say about gender and the economy." --Feminist German Studies"Women at Work offers us a rich archive of cinematic depictions of female labor . . . It is to the credit of Mennel's sweeping cinematic analysis of the present that we now have a better understanding of not only the work women do across the continent but also the variety of new images European cinema has been offering us." --German Studies Review"Highly recommended." --Choice"A beautiful balance between plot analysis and aesthetic evaluation to show how cinematic forms and subjects work together to root women's labor in gendered and economic contexts." --MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture ​​"This book makes an important intervention into both feminist film theory and scholarship on European cinema. Mennel provides a kaleidoscopic overview of the landscape of European filmmaking today, and a key achievement of her study is its truly transnational, comparative framework, which generatively juxtaposes films from a wide range of European countries without losing sight of their cultural specificity."--Hester Baer, author of Dismantling the Dream Factory: Gender, German Cinema, and the Postwar Quest for a New Film Language"A book steeped in cinematic analysis of style and form that is relevant far beyond the field of cinema and European studies. Innovative and unique in the way it brings a very timely topical focus to a large body of contemporary European cinema."--Maria Stehle, author of Ghetto Voices in Contemporary Germany: Textscapes, Filmscapes, and Soundscapes

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Book SynopsisFrom famously humble origins, Amazon has grown to become one of the most successful businesses in history. In its effort to provide its trademark fast and convenient Prime delivery, the company built a vast worldwide network of fulfillment centers and warehouses. Unsustainable looks inside the company's warehouses to reveal that the rise of Amazon is only made possible by the exploitation of workers' labor and communities' resources. Juliann Emmons Allison and Ellen Reese expose the real-world repercussions of these pernicious strategies through a chilling case study of the socioeconomic and environmental harms associated with the largely unchecked growth of warehousing in Inland Southern California, one of the nation's largest logistics hubs, where Amazon is the largest private-sector employer. Tracing the rise of grassroots resistance to the warehouse industry by workers and communities across this region, the country, and the globe, Unsustainable provides fresh insight into one of tTrade Review"The book develops a broad and insightful analysis of the human and environmental costs that flow from Amazon’s virtually unchecked domination of local communities, low-wage labor markets, and the workers whose labor it exploits." * Social Forces *

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Book SynopsisLamont takes us into the world inhabited by working-class men—the world as they understand it. Interviewing French and American working-class men who, because they are not college graduates, have limited access to high-paying jobs and other social benefits, she constructs a revealing portrait of how they see themselves and the rest of society.Trade ReviewThe Dignity of Working Men is an outstanding example of comparative ethnography. Through a series of careful and thoughtful interviews, Michèle Lamont reveals the moral standards ordinary workers use in evaluating their fellow citizens. In this engaging book, Lamont also provides an interesting comparison between workers in the United States and France on the criteria used to draw class and racial boundaries. -- William Julius Wilson, Harvard University and author of When Work DisappearsLamont's book is a classic in the making. It breaks new ground as a major in-depth study of comparative racism. It will also broaden the horizons of social class studies. The Dignity of Working Men opens up a wider perspective, so that by looking at French racial conflict, American racial conflict looks less fixed, less inevitable. There are alternative patterns, revealing that societies do have room to maneuver. -- Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania and author of The Sociology of Philosophies (Harvard)Lamont's richly-textured comparison does more than hold up for view the moral perspectives of working-class men across the racial divide in the United States and France. It poses fresh and rich challenges to research, demonstrates the difference systematic qualitative analysis can make, and points the way to a politics of sensibility and possibility. -- Ira I. Katznelson, Columbia UniversityThe Dignity of Working Men is a wonderful book. What is most striking is the richness of the interviews. Lamont's questions seem really to have touched working men where they live, to have encouraged them to talk about their sense of self, their pride in themselves as workers, their sense of moral order, their aspirations and (occasional) political passions, their families, their beliefs in equality and inequality, their racial attitudes, and much more. By asking black workers what they think of whites as well as what whites think of blacks, and by comparing racial and ethnic cleavages in France and the United States, The Dignity of Working Men adds a vital new dimension to studies of class and race. -- Ann Swidler, University of California, BerkeleyMany interpreters of current society have posited that class is no longer a useful concept as a basis for identity. This book, based on hundreds of interviews with American and French workers, rejects that analysis...It is fascinating reading, an important contribution to a reexamination of class. -- J. Wishnia * Choice *Was there actually a set of values that could be considered distinctly "working class" in character, that represented a distinctly working-class worldview? One of the most sophisticated recent attempts to answer this question appeared in the recent study The Dignity of Working Men...[Lamont] recognized that asking workers to choose their most important values from a prepared list would essentially force their replies into a predetermined mold that had little to do with their real-world thoughts and feelings. Lamont used instead open-ended and non-directive questions. She interviewed 150 blue-collar workers, black and white, in the United States and in France, and compared them with middle-class people in both countries. Her questions asked workers to describe people who were similar to them and people who were different, people they liked and disliked, and those to whom they felt superior or inferior. Follow-up questions probed why they felt as they did, spontaneously eliciting a complex pattern of moral judgements and values. Both work and family did indeed emerge among the blue-collar workers' core values. But the real significance lay in how those were perceived. -- Andrew Levinson * The Nation *It is hard to imagine a comparative research design as well conceived as the one that frames Michèle Lamont's book…. The book is a model of cross cultural comparative analysis and deserves high praise. -- Rick Fantasia, Contemporary SociologyThe Dignity of Working Men is an important entry into examinations of the intersection of class, race, and immigration. (Lamont) gives us new leverage on both some viable antiracist threads of thinking among the white working class and on the complexity and humanism animating how African Americans engage the great divides of race and class. We shall all be discussing this meticulously researched, cogently argued, and provocative book for some years to come. -- Lawrence Bobo, Contemporary SociologyMichele Lamont's study of working-class men in the USA and France is...the most interesting contribution to this field for quite some time, and should serve as a benchmark for future scholarly debate...This is a really innovative and challenging book and it needs to be read as widely as possible...The Dignity of Working Men has all the potential to become a classic. -- John Solomos * Ethnic and Racial Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Making Sense of Their Worlds The Questions The People The Research I. American Workers 1. The World in Moral Order "Disciplined Selves": Survival, Work Ethic, and Responsibility Providing for and Protecting the Family Straightforwardness and Personal Integrity Salvation from Pollution: Religion and Traditional Morality Caring Selves: Black Conceptions of Solidarity and Altruism The Policing of Moral Boundaries 2. Euphemized Racism: Moral qua Racial Boundaries How Morality Defines Racism Whites on Blacks Blacks on Whites Immigration The Policing of Racial Boundaries 3. Assessing"People Above" and"People Below" Morality and Class Relations "People Above" "People Below" The Policing of Class Boundaries II. The United States Compared 4. Workers Compared Profile of French Workers Profile of North African Immigrants Working Class Morality The Policing of Moral Boundaries Compared 5. Racism Compared French Workers on Muslims French Workers' Antiracism: Egalitarianism and Solidarity North African Responses The Policing of Racial Boundaries Compared 6. Class Boundaries Compared Class Boundaries in a Dying Class Struggle Workers on"People Above" Solidarity a la francaise: Against"Exclusion" The Policing of Class Boundaries Compared Conclusion: Toward a New Agenda Appendix A: Methods and Analysis Appendix B: The Context of the Interview: Economic Insecurity, Globalization, and Places Appendix C: Interviewees Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Amazon's Best Books of 2020 in Business and Leadership""Honorable Mention for the Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award, Consumers and Consumption Section of the American Sociological Association""Fascinating."---Helen Rosner, New Yorker"The most colourful investigation into nightlife and gender politics since Gloria Steinem went incognito as a Playboy Bunny in 1963."---Mark Smith, The Times"Riveting. . . . The results of her investigation are astonishing. Mears has amassed pages of enthralling, richly human testimony. . . . The anecdotes are hugely entertaining, in a throw-up-in-your-mouth way. . . . Mears’s thesis—that nightclubs aren’t exceptions to ‘real life,’ but a distilled, brutal caricature of it—gathers strength as the details accumulate. . . . Elegantly written and genuinely page-turning, with revelations about life that go far beyond nightclubs."---Iona McLaren, Daily Telegraph"Mears is a very good reporter. . . . A fascinating read."---Lynn Barber, The Spectator"Riveting. . . . Mears is an excellent storyteller, resulting in a book that’s well-informed and critical but also animated and engaging." * Tatler *"Very Important People was written before the coronavirus pandemic, but Covid-19 makes it more relevant. Lockdown has widened inequality as poorer households lose jobs and rely on their savings. Meanwhile, the rich are getting richer, leading to pent up demand for parties, girls and bottle trains among those who have already missed a season of it."---Ollie Williams, Forbes"Very Important People depicts a complex world of exchange and exploitation, and warrants praise for doing so without passing predictable moral judgement. More than offering a mere window into the exotic lives of others, Ashley Mears emphasizes themes that should resonate with us all: the labour of marginalized others that lurks behind so much status-seeking consumption, the risks of conflating work with fun and friendship, and the sad fact that 'girl power' remains as oxymoronic as ever."---Alice Bloch, Times Literary Supplement"Enlightening. . . . A fascinating glimpse into life behind the velvet rope."---Matthew Partridge, Money Week"Compelling, vivid and curiously poignant. . . . Very Important People succeeds in exposing the intriguing and often distressing realities of a culture whose values seem both alien and unpleasantly persistent."---Lisa Hilton, The Critic"Mears takes her readers inside the exclusive global nightclub and party circuit, from New York City to Miami and Saint-Tropez, in order to reveal a world constituted by spectacular displays of wealth."---Laurie Taylor, BBC Radio 4, Thinking Allowed"Throughout the seven chapters of the book, Mears dissects the economy of “ models and bottles ” (p. 17), or the formula by which we designate those parties in which the super rich display their power by attending models and making flaunting their wealth by wasting money and buying many bottles at exorbitant prices.”"---Giulia Mensitieri, La Vie Des Idees

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Best Information Science Book Award, Association for Information Science and Technology""Winner of the McGannon Book Award, McGannon Center at Fordham University""Winner of the Labor Tech Book Award, Labor Tech Research Network""Splendid. . . . A rigorous and surprisingly entertaining ethnographic portrait of a profession in transition."---Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker"Provocative. . . . [Levy’s] concise and lively book will interest anyone concerned with the complicated business of regulation."---Marc Levinson, Wall Street Journal"Data Driven does not disappoint. It is an exceptional exploration of how new rules and AI are transforming modern long-haul trucking, and how almost everyone who talks about the future of robots and work is getting it wrong."---Zephyr Teachout, American Prospect"“Breezily written; a quick and informative read.”"---Peter Hoskin, Prospect

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Shortlisted for the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize, British Sociological Association"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A fascinating and thought-provoking look into the relationship between sexual orientation and employment." * Library Journal *"This is the rare academic book that brought tears to my eyes thanks to its poignancy, rather than out of boredom. It serves as a model of how the history of neoliberalism could and should be written: with concerted attention to categories of race, gender, sexuality, class, and their interaction, rendered with sensitivity and attentive to the subjectivity and dignity of the historical actors it portrays."---Lily Geismer, Chronicle of Higher Education

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, Labor and Labor Movements Section of the American Sociological Association""Winner of the Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, Sociology of Development Section of the American Sociological Association""Winner of the John Friedman Best Book Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Work Pray Code presents an extraordinarily fine-grained map of the traffic between religion and profit-seeking among Silicon Valley’s elite."---Fred Turner, Los Angeles Review of Books"A must-read for anyone interested in the rise of mindfulness in corporate culture, and anyone concerned with how Silicon Valley culture might be shaping and distorting modern ideas of the workplace and community-writ-large."---Ravi Chandra, Psychology Today"Fascinating. . . . Work Pray Code is at its best when Chen contextualizes the findings of her research within broader historical and sociological concepts, such as corporate maternalism, the constant productivity push, and reduced civic engagement. . . . her findings should interest (and perhaps alarm) anyone who cares about the health and growth of the American church."---Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, Christianity Today"A rich ethnography of Silicon Valley’s elite. . . . Compelling stories. . . . While Work Pray Code centers on the corporate mindfulness initiatives for elite tech workers, Chen also takes moments to explore the impacts of these programs on larger issues."---J. A. English-Lueck, Science"Work Pray Code offers a rare sociological interrogation of the socio-political forces that direct citizens toward the ends of workplaces while diverting their attention from the ends of a shared public life or democratic practice."---Andrew Lynn, The Hedgehog Review"A meticulous, absorbing ethnography of Silicon Valley workplaces. . . . Through Chen’s sharply focused sociological lens, [the quirks and perks of Silicon Valley work culture] inform a bigger story: about the human search for meaning and security in a world where a handful of companies and people wield so much power over what matters and who wins."---Margaret O’Mara, Foreign Affairs"[Chen’s] questions are eminently important ones."---Bonnie Nadzam, Lion's Roar"Chen reminds us that work is a fickle god, one that loves us only conditionally. She calls us back to genuine worship, to communities that care about us beyond what we can produce."---Jonathan Tran, Christian Century"Anyone who cares about the future of work needs to read this book."---Bob Trube, Bob on Books"A stellar socio-anthropological study of the secular monasteries that dominate our culture, where work is reframed as an act of devotion and devotion is co-opted by the hungry gods of Capital. Be careful what you worship."---James K.A. Smith, author of On the Road with Saint Augustine"Her book, both sociological study and cultural rumination, is worth reading. Filled with interviews with actual employees who've subbed in their work lives for a broader religious or community one. It'll resonate with anyone in the Valley daze."---Antonio García Martínez, author of New York Times bestseller Chaos Monkeys"Deeply researched ethnography. . . . [Chen’s] analysis is at its most powerful in the sections where she lets us hear from the people who manage and deploy spirituality in the workplace."---Anna Gibson, The Arts Fuse"Well-researched and engaging." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[I]mpassioned. . . . [Kaag and van Belle] share with [Thoreau] an engaging style of everyday philosophy that extrapolates big questions about a well-led life from seemingly more practical concerns: how to live frugally, to make a living. . . . [T]his accessible and timely book has great potential to urge more people to see Thoreau not as a solitary sluggard but as a resource for thinking together about the future of work, or a future after work as we know it."---Nathan Wolff, Washington Post"This is philosophy as Thoreau would have recognized it: full of life. An inspiring book that will give you the succor you need to reconsider—and possibly change—the way you work." * Kirkus *"Lively and informal, [Henry at Work] will prompt fruitful conversations about the role of work in our lives."---Geoff Wisner, Wall Street Journal"[An] astute study. . . . The speculation on what Thoreau would think about modern workplaces is plausible and well supported. . . making a strong case for the transcendentalist’s continued relevance. This should give workaholics pause." * Publishers Weekly *"An elegant and heartening case for parsing the perennial American obsession with work through one of our most discerning writers. The Thoreauvian world that the authors envision is both thoughtful and sweaty, more egalitarian and more meaningful. If we want to actualize this ruddy utopia, we’d better get to work."---Lydia Moland, The American Scholar"It is finally time to move past the idea that Thoreau was a ponderous layabout whose solitary musings were only possible because of behind-the-scenes support staff (his family). . . . In a post-Covid moment when society is struggling to define the meaning and purpose of so much of what we call work, Thoreau’s 19th-century ideas about labor are both highly relevant and weirdly prescient." * Lit Hub *"In this little book that packs a big punch, [authors Kaag and van Belle] propose an unexpected companion—counselor, even—for our work journeys: the nineteenth-century writer Henry David Thoreau."---Nadya Williams, Current"[P]hilosophers John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle offer a Thoreau for our own fraught moment, rooted in what they convincingly describe as the central place of work in Thoreau’s philosophy and life."---Geoffrey Kirsch, Los Angeles Review of Books"A fascinating and thought-provoking read on how we can attempt to make our work more meaningful and ethical, in order to ‘make good’ on our lives. As Kaag and van Belle say in the book, we spend a lot of our life at work: if we can, we ought to figure out to what purpose and end we are doing such work."---Ilina Jha, Redbrick Culture"[H]umor could gently restore one’s faith in life. . . .The same restorative faith emerges from Henry At Work. All too frequently, the modern workplace is confusing, absurd, even hide-bound. . . . [R]eading Henry at Work may cause you to retrieve that old paperback copy of Walden to refresh your thinking about paid employment as you sit under a shade tree."---Jill O'Neill, The Scholarly Kitchen"Kaag and Van Belle’s book is a heartening contribution to reflections on Thoreau whose simple wisdom, while no panacea, has a great deal to teach us, if only we would do what he did so well: pay attention."---Alan Dent, Penniless Press Online"Think of anything having to do with your job and [Kaag and van Belle] will find something for you in Thoreau that fits like a glove."---Costica Bradatan, Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive examination of the contemporary mineworkers’ movement in South Africa, in a vivid ethnographic narrativeTrade Review'Opens a window on the struggles of South Africa miners to overcome not only the opposition of the plutocratic mineowners, but also the opposition of the entrenched union establishment created in an earlier era of upheaval.' -- Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York Graduate Center'Highlights the crucial role of ordinary workers in changing history. It is a richly textured portrayal of the lives and activities of the grassroots worker leaders who organised the historic platinum strikes in South Africa. It is a path-breaking history of the labour movement and a scholarly tribute to the agency of the slain Marikana miners and their comrades' -- Trevor Ngwane, South African socialist and anti-apartheid activist'The book provides what is currently missing - a detailed and sympathetic history, from within the ranks of the unions and workers committees and in the words of the strikers themselves' -- Leo Zeilig, editor of Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa (2008)'This book provides a fascinating and unique account of a set of pivotal events in recent South African history, as well as insight that is both locally and comparatively profound' -- Dunbar Moodie, Professor of Sociology, Wits University'An incisive yet empathetic account' -- African Studies Quarterly'Exceptionally extraordinary' -- CLR JournalTable of ContentsGlossary of South African Organisations List of Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Leaders Timeline of Key Events Acknowledgements Maps 1. Introduction 2. The Spark Underground 3. The Spirit of Marikana is Born 4. Amplats Carries the Torch 5. The Rise of the AMCU and the Demise of Worker Committees 6. Insurgent Trade Unionism and the Great Strike of 2014 Postscript Appendices Notes Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA radical geography of the representation of impoverished communities in BritainTrade Review'Poverty is such a strong word and is not used as much as it needs to be. I am very grateful that this book does not shy away from those difficult words and also those difficult conversations about poverty in Britain today' -- Lisa Mckenzie, author of Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain'Forensically maps the 'Othering' of poor people, charting the stigmatisation, exoticisation, spatial marginalisation and even aestheticisation of their neighbourhoods' -- Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group'Stephen Crossley has become one of the leading critical voices in the debate on poverty and inequality in the UK, and this remarkable and elegant book is a superb illustration of why his voice is so important' -- Tom Slater, Reader in Urban Geography, University of EdinburghTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Series Preface 1. Introduction: The Spaces of Others 2. Swamps and Slums: Exoticising the Poor 3. Tales of Two Cities 4. Neighbourhood Effects or Westminster Effects? 5. Streetwise? 6. The Heroic Simplification of the Household 7. Piles of Pringles and Crack: Behind Closed Doors 8. Less Public, More Private: The Shifting Spaces of the State 9. Studying Up Notes Index

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Book SynopsisWe live in a world with too many graduates fighting for too few graduate jobs; where Deliveroo drivers have PhDs. What’s the point in a university education in a world without enough jobs? Roth writes a sharp critique of the utility of a degree and the functioning of higher education, drawing on his experience as a higher education administrator.Trade Review'Modern American capitalism is producing a vast population of under-employed and unemployed yet highly educated people. Gary Roth provides a meticulously researched dissection of this phenomenon.' -- Steve Fraser, author of 'Class Matters: The Strange Career of an American Delusion''A fascinating analysis that plots the distance between what we think we know about education and what the reality actually is. Cuts through the cloudiness of our long-held illusions.' -- Alfred Lubrano, author of 'Limbo: Blue Collar Roots, White Collar Dreams'Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Higher Education and Class 2. The Overproduction of Intelligence 3. Class in Transition: Historical Background 4. Underemployment Through the Decades 5. The Educated Underclass 6. Into the Future Index

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Book SynopsisThe politics of punishment meet labour exploitation in this new analysisTrade Review'This book is an illuminating interrogation into captive labour, disposable workforce and state harm. Grasping the intricacies of labour, immigration, capital and criminalisation, this thought-provoking work will revolutionise our understanding of the carceral state' -- Fidelis Chebe, Director, Migrant Action'A magnificent piece of scholarship. It is eloquently written, meticulously researched and filled with profound insights: an instant classic' -- Dr David Scott, The Open University and author of 'For Abolition''A brilliant study of carceral labour as a form of neoliberal statecraft with deep historical roots that haunt it today' -- Avery F. Gordon Visiting Professor Birkbeck School of Law and author of 'The Hawthorn Archive: Letters from the Utopian Margins''Brilliant - shows how carceral labour shapes the world of work in ways that are more important than we have ever acknowledged, and adds an indispensable dimension to our understanding of capitalism. Read this book and learn how the strategies deployed in prisons and in immigration detention centres spread into labour markets in ways that discipline all of us' -- David Whyte, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Liverpool and co-editor of 'The Violence of Austerity''Compelling, compassionate and original. It highlights the hidden scandal of, and resistance to, carceral labour in the haunted environment of immigration removal centres' -- Professor Joe Sim, Liverpool John Moores University'Academically rigorous, rich in detail and makes an important contribution to our understanding of carceral labour’ -- Dr Monish Bhatia, Birkbeck, University of London'Brings debates on prison labour to a new level of theoretical sophistication, insightfully exploring its modern-day, reworked manifestations across the various spheres of the carceral state and laying bare its crucial role as a form of statecraft' -- José A. Brandariz, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, University of A Coruna, SpainTable of ContentsTables and Figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Labour Discipline and Reform 2. The Immigration Detention Estate 3. Carceral Haunting 4. Political Anatomies of Labour 5. Labour Control Regimes Conclusion Appendix: Methodological Note Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA major new study looking at the catalysing role of workers' inquiries in the rebirth of a global labour movement from belowTrade Review'Incisively examines the most recent and compelling examples of workers' autonomous resistance to the modern precarious workplace. Ovetz's invaluable collection applies workers' inquiry to contemporary practice. Essential reading for students of contemporary labor activism.' -- Immanuel Ness, author of 'Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class' (Pluto, 2015)‘An inspiring and fascinating collection of studies -- ‘Counterfire’Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction - Robert Ovetz PART I: TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS 1. Camioneros: The Argentine Truckers’ Union that Can Paralyze the Country - Dario Bursztyn 2. When Class Unionism Leads to Working-Class Recomposition: The Case of TÜMTİS in Turkey - Alpkan Birelma 3. Resisting Sexism and Racism in Italian Logistics Worker Organizing - Anna Curcio PART II: EDUCATION, CALL CENTERS, CLEANERS, PLATFORM WORK, AND GAMERS 4. Making Threats: Credible Strike Threats in the US, 2012–2016 - Robert Ovetz 5. The Self-Organization of the Mexican Multitude Against Neoliberal State Terror: The CNTE Dissident Teachers’ Movement Against the 2013 Education Reform - Patrick Cuninghame 6. Notes from Below: A Brief Survey of Class Composition in the UK - Callum Cant, Sai Englert, Lydia Hughes, Wendy Liu, Achille Marotta, Seth Wheeler, and Jamie Woodcock PART III: MANUFACTURING AND MINING 7. Worker Organizing in China: Challenges and Opportunities - Jenny Chan 8. Self-Organizing is Breathing Life into Workers’ Struggles in South Africa - Shawn Hattingh and Dr. Dale T. McKinley 9. Towards a Global Workers’ Inquiry: A Study of Indian Precarious Auto Workers - Lorenza Monaco About the Authors Index

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Book Synopsis'Amazon Capitalism' grows ever stronger. This book provides the answers on how to fight the company's terrifying omnipotence.Trade Review'Drawing on deep and wide-ranging scholarship, this compelling collection provides heartening evidence of push-back by communities and organised labour against Amazon. Essential reading.' -- Kirsty Newsome, Professor of Employment Relations, Sheffield UniversityA must-read for scholars and activists alike. This stellar collection of essays documents exploitation and resistance at Amazon across the globe. -- Carolina Bank Muñoz, Tow Professor of Sociology, City University of New York'This important and timely book on Amazon's global empire is a must read for those who are concerned about economic inequality, massive public surveillance, and the threat to worker rights and democracy around the world' -- Kent Wong, Director, UCLA Labor Center'This brilliant compilation of essays shows us how, like Walmart before it, Amazon has risen to global dominance through shrewd use of technology, data systems and supply chains, and also by skirting and breaking laws' -- Professor Stephanie Luce, School of Labor and Urban Studies, CUNY'More than a book about Amazon. It is about the transition in global capitalism and its implications not only for Amazon's workforce, but on the global working class' -- Bill Fletcher, Jr., executive editor of globalafricanworker.com'An excellent book … it is clearly written and contains a stack of information about Amazon’s practices and the resistance they are generating' -- Socialist Book Reviews'Those hoping to build more power for workers have much to learn from this book’s examination of organizing within Amazon' -- Labor Notes'Offers important insights into Amazon’s insidious nature, the challenges of organizing, and also some glimmers of organizing success at the local and national levels' -- Jonathan Rosenblum, Jacobin'Absolutely essential reading for every driver, warehouse associate, and tech worker at Amazon' -- Anonymous Amazon worker, Stansbury ForumTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables Dedication Acknowledgments Preface: Amazon and the Future of Work in the Global Economy - Ruth Milkman Introduction: Amazon Capitalism - Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, Juliann Allison, and Ellen Reese PART I - AMAZON’S RISE IN GLOBAL POWER 1. Amazon: Context, Structure, and Vulnerability - Kim Moody 2. Power Accrues to the Powerful: Amazon’s Market Share, Customer Surveillance, and Internet Dominance - Dana M. Williams 3. Transnational Amazon: Labor Exploitation and the Rise of E-Commerce in South Asia - Jeb Sprague and Sreerekha Sathi PART II - EXPLOITATION AND RESISTANCE ACROSS AMAZON’S GLOBAL EMPIRE 4. The Amazonification of Logistics: E-Commerce, Labor, and Exploitation in the Last Mile - Jake Alimahomed-Wilson 5. Automation and the Surveillance-Driven Warehouse in Inland Southern California - Jason Struna and Ellen Reese 6. Gender, Race, and Amazon Warehouse Labor in the United States - Ellen Reese 7. A New Industrial Working Class? Challenges in Disrupting Amazon’s Fulfillment Process in Germany - Nantina Vgontzas 8. A Struggle for Bodies and Souls: Amazon Management and Union Strategies in France and Italy - Francesco Massimo PART III - COMMUNITIES CONFRONTING THE E-COMMERCE GIANT 9. Company Town: What Happens to a City and its Democracy when Amazon Dominates? - Katie Wilson 10. Lessons from New York City’s Struggle Against Amazon HQ2 in Long Island City - Steve Lang and Filip Stabrowski 11. What Happens When Amazon Comes to Town? Environmental Impacts, Local Economies, and Resistance in Inland Southern California - Juliann Emmons Allison 12. Worker and Community Organizing to Challenge Amazon’s Algorithmic Threat - Sheheryar Kaoosji PART IV - STRUGGLING TO WIN AGAINST AMAZON 13. Amazon Strikes in Europe: Seven Years of Industrial Action, Challenges, and Strategies - Jörn Boewe and Johannes Schulten 14. Bursting the Bubble: The Emerging Tech Worker Movement at Amazon - Spencer Cox 15. The CEO Has No Clothes: Worker Leadership and Amazon’s Failures During COVID-19 - Dania Rajendra 16. Think Big: Organizing a Successful Amazon Workers’ Movement in the United States by Combining the Strengths of the Left and Organized Labor - Peter Olney and Rand Wilson 17. Amazonians United! An Interview with DCH1 (Chicago) Amazonians United - DCH1 Amazonians United Conclusion: Resisting Amazon Capitalism - Jake Alimahomed-Wilson and Ellen Reese About the Authors Index

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Book SynopsisThe Global South is the epicentre of workers’ struggles todayTrade Review'In these depressing times, when the neoliberal consensus has acquired an aura of inevitability akin to the Laws of Physics, it is a breath of fresh air to read serious scholarship that challenges this consensus' -- Norman Finkelstein'The rising anti-imperialist struggles in both the underdeveloped and developed countries are signalling the resurgence of the world proletarian-socialist revolution. Immanuel Ness makes a just call for forging a global workers' movement by reinvigorating and further developing the trade union movement, the workers' parties and political movements to fight for the rights and interests of the working class and the rest of the suffering people' -- Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chairperson Emeritus of the International League of Peoples' Struggle, Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines and Co-Founder of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines'Important' -- Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst'Timely and relevant. The theoretical framing around political organisation of the working class for social transformation is much-needed. Its energetic, provocative scholarship with insightful case studies from across the South makes it essential reading for academics and activists alike' -- Anita Hammer, Senior Lecturer of Organisational Studies and Human Resources, University of Essex'A valuable book that addresses the necessity of revolutionary organization in times of socialist ideological resurgence. Essential reading to anyone wishing to understand the proletarianization of the Global South. Its in-depth examination of modern forms of imperialist exploitation and revolts contribute to comprehending areas rarely covered by mainstream social science' -- Ali Kadri, National University of Singapore'A rich combination of theoretical insights and valuable case-studies from the Global South - a much-needed reminder that the agenda of social transformation requires a strong and sustained political intervention to turn protests into a powerful movement' -- Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University'Challenges the prevailing racializing perception of the Southern worker held in the North as powerless and without agency. 'Organizing Insurgency' is a must read for an understanding of imperialism, which has normalized a lack of awareness of the sustaining role of the southern agricultural and industrial workers in global capitalism' -- Himani Bannerji, York UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations Series Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Forging a New Global Workers’ Movement 1 PART I - THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF LABOUR IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 1. The Labour Atlas: The Southern Working Class Holding Up the World 2. Workers’ Movements in the South: Inequality, Poverty, and Enduring Relevance of Rural Proletariat and Informal Sector Workers PART II - CASE STUDIES: RURAL AND INFORMAL LABOUR STRUGGLES 3. Primitive Steel Manufacturing for the Global Consumer Market: Capital, Super-exploitation, and Surplus Value in Wazirpur, India 4. The Enduring System of Global Agricultural Commodity Production and First World Commodity Extraction: The Case of Mindanao, the Philippines 5. Global Capitalism: Corporate Restructuring, Labour Brokering, and Working-class Mobilization in South Africa 6. Conclusion: Labour Struggles and Political Organization Notes Index

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative overview of the question of power in trade union strategyTrade Review'Jane Holgate is a brilliant thinker. By centring her thesis on power, this book contributes to our understanding of what strategies and mechanisms enable workers to stand a chance at achieving justice' -- Jane McAlevey is an organiser, scholar and author of 'No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age' (Oxford University Press, 2018)'A must-read - by a top-class scholar, union educator and activist, and written with exceptional clarity. Readers will come away with a deeper understanding of the world and with the tools to change it' -- John Kelly, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations at Birkbeck College University of London'Part history text, part employment relations research; Jane Holgate's book critiques decades of union renewal strategies in the UK and questions assumptions from both the left and right over how to regain collective power rather than just recruit new members' -- Dave Smith is a blacklisted construction worker and co-author of 'Blacklisted: The Secret War Between Big Business and Union Activists' (New Internationalist, 2016)'A brilliant treatise on how to think about worker power in the context of sweeping structural change. It is well past time for labour scholars to return to this fundamental question and Jane Holgate has made an indispensable contribution to the canon' -- Janice Fine, Professor of Labour Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University and Director of Research and Strategy at the Centre on Innovation in Worker Organisation'An excellent review of the leaps forward and setbacks for workers and their unions, and an invaluable read for Jane Holgate's astute analyses. But that's not what the book is about. It is about power. Power for workers, which is the reason for organising, and which is too often forgotten in the daily struggle. We can continue on the current path to oblivion, with unions becoming little more than legacy politicians, or remember our roots and aggressively organise in new ways with workers in an evolving economy' -- Wade Rathke, founder and Chief Organiser of ACORN International'In examining the problems that we have to face to rebuild the movement, this analysis of power, who has it and how to build it, is a must-read for aspiring activists. An essential book for those who are committed to the idea that trade unionism is a vehicle through which we can organise to delivering transformative change for all workers' -- Wilf Sullivan, Race Equality Officer for the Trades Union Congress (TUC)'Jane Holgate's experience as an academic and a union activist has given her unique insights that make this book an important read for anyone who wants to understand where unions have been, where they are now and where they need to go' -- Arnie Graf, community organiser with the Industrial Areas Foundation and author of 'Lessons Learned. Stories from a Lifetime of Organizing' (ACTA Publications, 2020)'Arise brings together a range of material including working class history and powerful critiques of union attempts at rejuvenation to produce a useful contribution to the vital debates about the workers’ movement' -- ‘rs21’'An essential read for activists, labour leaders, union organisers and academics who seek to create a better world.' -- 'Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research'Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Series Preface Acknowledgements 1. Looking to the Past to Understand the Present 2. Let’s Talk about Social Power 3. Harnessing Power in the Late Nineteenth-Century–Early Twentieth-Century ‘Gig Economy’ 4. Understanding and Using Levers of Power in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century 5. Structural Change and the Weakening of the Power of Workers 6. Union Responses to Decline and Loss of Power 7. Organising in Theory: Recruitment in Practice? 8. Leadership, Strategic Choice and Union Power in the Turn to Organising 9. Winning Power is Possible Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA Marxist investigation into the forms of resistance occurring in the UK call centre todayTrade Review'A sharp reminder of the difficulties faced by call-centre workers' -- Financial Times'Jamie Woodcock shows us what call centres can tell us about bleakness and resistance in the modern workplace' -- VICE'Jamie Woodcock's brilliant insider account of life in a British call-centre reveals the dirty realities of digital capitalism ... a book that is sure to become a classic' -- Peter Fleming, author of The Mythology of Work (Pluto, 2015)'In this urgent and incisive study, Woodcock identifies the imposing challenges to organising against exploitation in conditions of atomised precarity, while also giving us precious glimpses of what a counter-offensive against capital might look like. A masterful lesson in how sociology can serve both to interpret and change a world of labour under the pall of austerity' -- Alberto Toscano, Reader in Critical Theory, Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London'Woodcock knows not only his theory but his subject inside out. There's casualisation, cruelty and regimentation, but also subversion, and his focus on employee resistance offers a flicker of hope' -- Times Higher Education'Everyone should read Jamie Woodcock's book' -- Manchester Review of Books'A theoretically sophisticated and empiracally rich account of what it is like to work in a call centre' -- Red PepperTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Working in the Call Centre 3. Management 4. Moments of Resistance 5. Precarious Organisation 6. Conclusion Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisHow do childcare, healthcare, education, family life and the roles of gender, race and sexuality affect our lives under capitalism?Trade Review'Theoretically robust and empirically grounded chapters demonstrate the enduring value of a Marxist feminist approach. A welcome collection!' -- Rosemary Hennessy, L.H. Favrot Professor of Humanities and Professor of English, Rice University, and author of Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism'The varied and suggestive essays in this rich collection are of great value, not only to newcomers to the field, but also to those already grounded in this rich arena for inquiry and organising' -- Hester Eisenstein, author of Feminism Seduced: How Global Elites Use Women's Labour and Ideas to Exploit the World (2009)'A must read for those who want to go beyond the binaries and the 'social' conceived as an aggregation of intersecting systems or overlapping spheres. It is an ambitious project aiming for epistemologies of resistance' -- Himani Bannerji, author of The Dark Side of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism, and Gender (2000)'A marvellous new collection' -- Jordy Rosenberg, Los Angeles Review of Books'Every socialist needs to read it now' -- Socialist Action'Feminist thinking about questions of social reproduction offers a much-needed break with the impasse that mainstream feminism finds itself in - and this collection provides a fantastic weapon for that task' -- Red PepperTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword by Lise Vogel 1. Introduction: Mapping Social Reproduction Theory - Tithi Bhattacharya 2. Crisis of Care? On the Social-Reproductive Contradictions of Contemporary Capitalism - Nancy Fraser 3. Without Reserves - Salar Mohandesi and Emma Teitelman 4. How Not to Skip Class: Social Reproduction of Labor and the Global Working Class - Tithi Bhattacharya 5. Intersections and Dialectics: Critical Reconstructions in Social Reproduction Theory - David McNally 6. Children, Childhood and Capitalism: A Social Reproduction Perspective - Susan Ferguson 7. Mostly Work, Little Play: Social Reproduction, Migration and Paid Domestic Work in Montreal - Carmen Teeple Hopkins 8. Pensions and Social Reproduction - Serap Saritas Oran 9. Body Politics: The Social Reproduction of Sexualities - Alan Sears 10. From Social Reproduction Feminism to the Women's Strike - Cinzia Arruzza Notes Index

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Book Synopsis* Danny Miller is one of the leading anthropologists in the world today and is a key figure in the study of material culture. * This book is unique: it is the first attempt to analyse in detail the life of the au pair and the families for whom they work.Trade Review“A great read and an intriguing academic study … Rich in content not only for anyone who thinks about employing or becoming an au pair, but also for everyone scientifically interested in an ethnography of this specific institution.” Anthropos "Pick up this book when you want a guilt-free escape from your day-to-day academic work. This is a vivid and engaging account of the life of Slovak au pairs in London. Written for the specialist and non-specialist alike, it offers great insight into the problems of intercultural communication, structured by the fundamental contradictions of the institution of the au pair." Journal of Intercultural Studies "Miller and Burikova's criticisms are all too real" The Times "A highly engaging read, which begs the question: why is more scholarly work not written in this way?" Social & Cultural Geography "A useful resource for all interested in both migration and gender studies. It challenges steretypes on the one hand of the au pair as an uneducated, poor and sexualised object and of host parents as cold, uncaring and exploitative on the other. It provides a huge amount of rich ethnographic data that challenge readers to think differently about family life, domestic tasks and the migration of young women." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies "With its fine-grained ethnographic detail, skillfully presented in vivid prose, this book illuminates every aspect of the hopes, fantasies and frustrations that constitute the frequently troubled ties and misunderstandings between au pairs and their employers. A huge pleasure to read, Au Pair provides a definitive, indispensable text for addressing this increasingly prevalent facet of family life, with its own suggestions for improving the lives of both au pairs and the families in which they reside." Lynne Segal, Birkbeck College and author of Why Feminism? "A long overdue book that deals sensitively with the experiences of both au pairs and host families. It moves between individual stories and their social context to reveal the tensions and the potential of this unique relationship." Bridget Anderson, University of OxfordTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Prologue 1 1 Why Not? 5 2 An Embarrassing Presence 32 3 The Hard Work and the Soft Touch 60 4 Sort of English 87 5 Bored in Beddlingham 114 6 Men 137 7 Out of Time 156 8 Conclusion: Structure, Behaviour and Consequence 171 Appendix: Academic Studies of Domestic Labour 184 References 200 Index 204

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Book SynopsisAcross a range of industrial, domestic, and agricultural sites, Greer shows how repetitive discursive performances served as rhetorical tools as women workers sought to rescript power relations in their workplaces and to resist narratives about their laboring lives.

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Book SynopsisMillions of people across the globe face a precarious existence because of Covid-19, climate change, and the greatest wealth inequality in a century. In Britain, the pandemic has revealed critical failings in the social safety net, especially the damage to the National Health Service caused by years of underfunding and creeping privatisation.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; Orthodox Socialism; The changing political status of organised labour; Labour in power; Bevan and the crisis of orthodox socialism; Harold Wilson in office and the rise of a Labour new left; New Labour's 'modernisation' project; Jeremy Corbyn and the resurgence of the socialist ideal; Appendix: Labour members speak.

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Book SynopsisHow is gender signified, produced and reproduced through paid and unpaid labour? In what ways does gender intersect with other kinds of disadvantage? How does power work through interactions, emotions and bodies?In this original synthesis of social theory and its application to gender and work, Kate Huppatz draws from classical theory and principles of the cultural turn' to explore how feminist sociology dismantles dualistic understandings of gender and scrutinizes the workings of power. In a tour de force of exposition and analysis of landmarks in the literature, Huppatz reflects upon continuities and departures in cutting-edge research on gender within organizations, unpaid domestic labour, and paid and unpaid care work. Close attention is paid to pressing issues such as the intersectionality of inequality in the workplace, relations between micro activities and larger social processes, and the impact of Covid-19 on exposing and exacerbating the gendered inequalities oTrade Review‘A comprehensive, lucid and incisive tour de force, highlighting the changing connections between research on gender and work, and the theoretical traditions with which it has been associated.’ -- Miriam Glucksmann, Emeritus Professor of Sociology * University of Essex, UK *Table of Contents1 Introduction: Why Gender, Work and Social Theory? 2. The Beginnings of Gender and Work Scholarship: A Tale of Ambivalence and Revolt 3. Labouring in Gendered Cultures: From Thinking with Sex Roles to Understanding Gender as Practice and Discourse 4. Gendered Organisations: Institutional Cultures, Divisions and Hierarchies 5. Material Yet Invisible: Housework and New Directions in Unpaid Labour 6. Unpaid Family Caring Labour and Work-Family Tensions: Love, Power and Overwork in Domestic Settings 7. Paid Care and Other Service Work: Commercialised Emotional and Embodied Labour in Contexts of Globalisation and Inequality 8. Conclusions: Maintaining Momentum 9. Epilogue: Gender, Work and Covid-19

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Book SynopsisThis important book takes readers behind the closed doors of elite employers to reveal how class affects who gets to the top. Drawing on 200 interviews across four case studies - television, accountancy, architecture, and acting it explores the complex barriers facing the upwardly mobile.Trade Review"A landmark text…without a doubt the most wide-ranging and envelope-pushing representation of the new Bourdieu-inspired work on social mobility" Sociology“The Class Ceiling blows apart the myth of our supposed meritocracy.” The National (Scotland)“This seminal work has updated our understanding of both modern Britain and the nature of class itself. It fuses theoretical prowess, revelatory data, gripping narrative and clear prose. All of us interested in meritocracy, whether real or imagined, owe the authors an enormous debt of gratitude.” Amol Rajan, BBC Media EditorRecommended for all levels from upper-division undergraduates to faculty by CHOICE Connect. "An excellent, mixed-methods, Bourdieu-driven study of how privilege creates a “following wind” that helps push people to the top of elite professions… An important innovation of this study is that the authors use ethnographic interviews and observations in four work settings to see how privilege helps not only with “getting in” but also the even more consequential steps of “getting on,” of rising to the elite levels."“Marshals a wide range of data, analysis and experience in an accessible and readable manner... makes the continued existence of class bias in occupational and public life more difficult for cheerleaders of meritocracy to deny, and – crucially – offers ways to end it.” New Humanist"Reading The Class Ceiling hit home in so many places I felt bruised by the end. " The Guardian"A well-conceived and important study which makes a significant contribution to knowledge about social mobility, and an important intervention into broader political debates" Selina Todd, University of Oxford"This compelling book offers a fresh approach to understanding how social class matters. Easy to read, Highly recommended!" Annette Lareau, University of Pennsylvania“One of the most insightful works on the dynamics of inequality since Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Level a decade ago” Herald Scotland“Friedman and Laurison show how it can possibly be that upwardly mobile executives and professionals earn less than those raised in the upper classes. Everybody in The Class Ceiling has a desirable job, but even in the upper reaches of British society, class roots matter.” Mike Hout, New York University"Without question this is the most outstanding study of social mobility in the UK to have appeared in the past 20 years. Using a brilliant mixed method design, Friedman & Laurison trace the long shadow of class privilege in driving career prospects even in the supposedly dynamic sectors of today’s knowledge economy. Anyone who thinks Britain is a meritocracy needs to ponder the lessons of this wonderful book." Mike Savage, LSE"This stunning book provides a panoramic overview of class inequality in the UK labour market with a forensic scrutiny of the ways in which privilege works to keep the class ceiling firmly in place." Diane Reay, University of CambridgeTable of ContentsIntroduction Getting in Getting on Untangling the class pay gap Inside elite firms The bank of Mum and Dad A helping hand Fitting in View from the top Self-elimination Class ceilings: A new approach to social mobility Conclusion Epilogue: 10 ways to break the class ceiling

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Book SynopsisWith welfare to work programmes under intense scrutiny, this book ranges widely across Europe to review existing policies and explore future ones. It shows how many schemes do not adequately address social rights and lived experiences, and consider alternatives based on theories of non-domination.Table of ContentsWelfare to work, social justice and domination: an introduction to an interdisciplinary normative perspective on welfare policies ~ Anja Eleveld, Thomas Kampen and Josien Arts PART I: Legal perspectives Workfare’s persistent philosophical and legal issues: forced labour, reciprocity and a basic income guarantee ~ Amir Paz-Fuchs The right to work: a justification for welfare to work? ~ Elise Dermine Limitation of welfare to work: the prohibition of forced labour and the right to freely chosen work ~ Elise Dermine The duty to work as precondition for human dignity: a Swiss perspective on work programmes ~ Melanie Studer and Kurt Pärli The prohibition of forced labour and the right to freely chosen work: a comparison of Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK ~ Anja Eleveld, Neville Harris and Christian H. Schøler PART II: Sociological perspectives Implementing social justice within activation policies: the contribution of the capability approach ~ Jean-Michel Bonvin and Luca Perrig The silent expansion of welfare to work policies: how policies are enhanced through the use of categorizations, evidence-based knowledge and self-governance ~ Mathias H. Nielsen, Sophie Danneris and Niklas A. Andersen Questions of conduct and social justice: the ethics of welfare conditionality within UK social security ~ Peter Dwyer Pressing, repressing and accommodating: local modes of governing social assistance recipients in welfare to work programmes in the Netherlands ~ Josien Arts Left in limbo: social assistance recipients' evolving views on the fairness of workfare volunteerism ~ Thomas Kampen PART III: Philosophical perspectives Welfare to work and the republican theory of non-domination ~ Anja Eleveld Unconditional basic income and duties of contribution: exploring the republican ethos of justice ~ Simon Birnbaum Freedom, exit and basic income ~ Stuart White Conclusion: exit, voice and the minimization of domination in welfare to work relationships ~ Anja Eleveld

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together leading international authors from a number of fields to provide an up to date understanding of part-time work at national, sector, industry and workplace levels.Trade Review“This rich collection, with contributions from leading scholars, broadens our understanding of part-time work in contemporary labour markets. The study of the politics of part-time work - at different levels and in a wide range of countries and its consequences for the quality of work and work-life balance - offers an invaluable contribution to scholars and students in the field.” Anne Lise Ellingsæter, University of Oslo“This book provides a much-needed contemporary analysis of part-time work in an era of increasingly fragmented employment. It delivers new and important insights around the motivations for part-time work, job quality and regulation across different institutional contexts. Highly recommended.” Jim Arrowsmith, Massey Business School and University of WarwickTable of ContentsPart 1: Introduction; Dualization of part-time work - the new normal? ~ Heidi Nicolaisen, Hanne Kavli and Ragnhild Steen Jensen; Part 2: Institutional and organizational regulations of part-time work; Regulations and governance of part-time work at the European level ~ Sonia Bekker and Dalila Ghailani; So far, so close? Employment de-standardisation trends in Italy and Spain and their effects in gender equality ~ Lara Maestripieri and Margarita León; Dualist employer responses to national regulations – the case of the Norwegian health care industry ~ Hanne C. Kavli, Heidi Nicolaisen & Sissel Trygstad; Part 3: Work-family reconciliation policies and part-time work; Why do women work in ‘Minijobs’ in Germany? Explanation with supply and demand side factors ~ Birgit Pfau-Effinger and Thordis Reimer Part-time work strategies of working parents in the Netherlands and Australia ~ Mara A. Yerkes and Belinda Hewitt; How Does the South Korean Labor Market Marginalize Female Part-Time Workers? ~ Sophia Seung-yoon Lee and Min Young Song; Part 4: Working conditions; Good and Bad Part-Time Jobs in the United States ~ Kenneth Hudson and Arne L. Kalleberg; Part-time work and wage levels in private services - does gender matter ~ Trine P. Larsen, Anna Ilsøe and Jonas Felbo-Kolding; Part time working women’s access to other flexible work arrangements across Europe ~ Heejung Chung; Part 5: Part-time work and labour market mobility; Dualization or normalisation of part-time work in the Nordic countries: job quality and mobility over time ~ Kristine Nergaard and Juokko Nätti; Immigrant women in part-time employment – stepping in or stepping out? ~ Hanne C. Kavli and Roy Nilsen; Part 6: Conclusion; Conclusion ~ Heidi Nicolaisen, Hanne C. Kavli and Ragnhild Steen-Jensen.

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Book SynopsisThroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many workers. This volume examines flexible working using data from 30 European countries and drawing on studies conducted in Australia, the US and IndiaTable of ContentsIntroduction: The flexibility paradox and contexts The demand for and trends in flexible working The dual nature of flexibility: Family-friendly or performance-oriented logic? The outcomes of flexible working The flexibility paradox: Why more freedom at work leads to more work The empirical evidence of the flexibility paradox Gendered flexibility paradox Flexibility stigma and the rewards of flexible working The importance of contexts COVID- 19 and flexible working Conclusion: Where do we go from here?

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWelfare states are a major feature of many societies. This book draws on qualitative interviews with people receiving various working age welfare payments in Ireland to analyse welfare conditionality and explore stigma, social reciprocity and the notions of the deserving and undeserving poor.Table of ContentsForeword by Fred Powell Introduction 1. Setting the Stage: The Development of the Irish Welfare State and its Place in the World of Welfare 2. Welfare, Marginality and Social Liminality: Life in the Welfare ‘Space’ 3. The Effect of the Work Ethic 4. Welfare Conditionality 5. Maintaining Compliance and Engaging in Impression Management 6. Deservingness: Othering, Self-Justification and the Norm of Reciprocity 7. Welfare is 'Bad' Bringing It All Together 8. COVID-19: Policy Responses and Lived Experiences Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis book argues that in order to understand dibao (China's minimum livelihood guarantee) we need to look at how the programme emerged and how it has developed in the years since.

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Book SynopsisThis revolutionary book presents a new conception of community and the struggle against capitalism. In Undoing Work, Rethinking Community, James A. Chamberlain argues that paid work and the civic duty to perform it substantially undermines freedom and justice. Chamberlain believes that to seize back our time and transform our society, we must abandon the deep-seated view that community is constructed by work, whether paid or not. Chamberlain focuses on the regimes of flexibility and the unconditional basic income, arguing that while both offer prospects for greater freedom and justice, they also incur the risk of shoring up the work society rather than challenging it. To transform the work society, he shows that we must also reconfigure the place of paid work in our lives and rethink the meaning of community at a deeper level. Throughout, he speaks to a broad readership, and his focus on freedom and social justice will interest scholars and activists alike. ChamberlainTrade ReviewThe book is well worth reading for its clear synthesis of a number of issues and thinkers on topics such as UBI, work, immaterial labour, welfare and flexibility.... In my view, it deserves to be read just for its extended treatment of André Gorz's work, which is undeservedly neglected within our discipline. Scholars of alternative organization, in particular, could usefully harness the utopian variant of UBI and the reduction of work without income to consider how organization could develop in the context of voluntary co-operation and in the service of social justice and human flourishing. * Organization Studies *In his comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the social function of work under capitalism, Chamberlain demonstrates repeatedly that even prominent postwork scholars do not escape the remnants of work. Moreover, he provides a reassessment of neoliberalism's regimes of flexibility. * Perspectives in Politics *Chamberlain has given us something rare: not an easy or a comfortable book, but a genuinely radical one. * Autonomy *Chamberlain places a set of inquiries that will largely enhance the boundaries on debates about work in a post-work era: is it even possible to think about societies in a wider sense that could overcome work as the main knot of relationships, and thus, recognition? * British Journal of Industrial Relations *Table of Contents1. The Ends of Work 2. The Work Society 3. Flexibility 4. Unconditional Basic Income 5. Community beyond Work 6. The Postwork Community

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Book SynopsisFrom the rise of fully automated factories to the creation of new migrant workforces, the world of work, employment and production is rapidly changing. By reshaping the global distribution of wealth, jobs and opportunities, these processes are unleashing profound social and environmental tensions, as well as new political movements. As a means to address these crucial themes, Global Labour Studies elaborates an innovative interdisciplinary framework that builds upon the concepts of power, networks, space and livelihoods. This approach is deployed to explore core topics including global production networks, labour market dynamics, formal and informal sectors, migration and forced labour, agriculture and environment, corporate social responsibility and new labour organizations. Written in a lively and engaging format that draws upon a diverse range of illustrative case studies, the book provides the reader with an accessible repertoire of analytical tools and offers an essential guide to the field. This makes it a uniquely rich text for undergraduate courses on global labour issues across the fields of geography, politics, sociology, labour studies and international development.Trade Review"Marcus Taylor and Sébastien Rioux have opened the horizon to a truly global labour studies. Grounded in heterodox political economy, and animated by critical development studies, feminism, economic sociology, human geography, and more, Global Labour Studies is interdisciplinary in both spirit and practice. It is also a model of lucid, dynamic, and socially engaged exposition, shining light on lived experiences, deep connections, and structural conditions together across the rapidly changing worlds of labour."Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia"A most engaging text for readers who want to understand key labor issues in a rapidly changing global economy. Taylor and Rioux ably help us navigate the complex institutions, processes and relations that shape contemporary work, as well as their implications for politics, inequality and justice."Ching Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles “The book is a remarkable accomplishment. Not only are the authors able to cover numerous topics central to the field in a relatively small amount of space without succumbing to superficiality, they do so in a lively and engaging way. Perhaps most significantly, the book provides readers with the necessary analytical and methodological tools to enter into and further their knowledge of and work in the field of global labour studies. For these and many more reasons, it is highly recommendable for students new to the field.”Labour/Le TravailTable of Contents Chapter 1: Thinking Global Labour Studies Chapter 2: The Toolkit of Global Labour Studies Chapter 3: Labour Regimes Chapter 4: Global Production Networks Chapter 5: Formal Work in Transition Chapter 6: Labour in the Informal Economy Chapter 7: Agrarian Labour Chapter 8: Migrant Labour Chapter 9: Forced Labour Chapter 10: The Nature of Labour Chapter 11: Corporate Social Responsibility Chapter 12: Organizing Global Labour Conclusion: The Futures of Global Labour

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Book SynopsisAny organization, no matter how stolid, may be unsettled by the news that a new boss is about to take over. Talk in the hallways increases, staff worry about their jobs, uncertainty grows. Even when the change has happened, problems emerge when the boss who was hired to manage “from above” has to learn about the organization “from below.” In this book, Niklas Luhmann scrutinizes the relationship and shows how it is stretched to its limit by communication difficulties, demands for self-presentation, and disagreements concerning fundamental values. Many of the tensions crystallize around the question “who has the power?” It isn’t necessarily the boss, provided the employees are well versed in the art of directing their superiors. “Subtervision” is Luhmann’s term for this state of affairs, and tact is the most important means to this end. Yet caution is advised: whoever achieves mastery in subtervision may well become the new boss. This slim and thought-provoking book from one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century will be of great interest to anyone seeking to understand the dynamics and machinations of the workplace.Trade Review"While many know Niklas Luhmann in his capacity as a systems theoretician, few are aware that he has also written a number of important essays in organization theory. The New Boss represents an excellent introduction to this part of Luhmann's work: it is bristling with interesting ideas about leadership, formal organizations, groups and much more."—Richard Swedberg, Cornell UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: "The Same Boss as the Old Was?" Andreas Hess The New Boss The Spontaneous Creation of Order Subtervision or The Art of Directing Superiors AfterwordJürgen Kaube Sources of the Texts Notes

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Book SynopsisIncreasingly, employees are being falsely treated as ‘self-employed’. This phenomenon – the ‘gig economy’ – is seen as the inevitable shape of things to come. In this book, Colin Crouch takes a step back and questions this logic. He shows how the idea of an employee – a stable status that involves a bundle of rights – has maintained a curious persistence. Examining the ways companies are attacking these rights, from proffering temporary work to involuntary part-time work to ‘gigging’, he reveals the paradoxes of the situation and argues that it should not and cannot continue. He goes on to propose reforms to reverse the perverse incentives that reward irresponsible employers and punish good ones, setting out an agenda for a realistic future of secure work. Crouch’s penetrating analysis will be of interest to everyone interested in the future of work, the welfare state and the gig economy.Trade Review‘A timely and thought-provoking read, lifting the lid on how the gig economy is undermining workers, damaging society and compromising our prosperity. It ought to act as a wake-up call to policy-makers and politicians.’Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress ‘Crouch presents a careful discussion of the relevant data and posits a powerful set of proposals for reforming labour markets in the era of the gig economy.’Steven Vallas, Northeastern University

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Book SynopsisSince its emergence at the end of the seventeenth century, industrial capitalism as a specific form of social organisation has set recurrent challenges to its own persistence, and until today, it has proved to be successful to develop new ways of accumulation based on its capacity of adaptation. Is this process of transition now accelerating or reaching an end point? This book is a critical exploration of capitalism in transition, bringing together cutting edge, world renowned scholars who reflect from different disciplinary points of view. This collection engages with the primarily Western themes of welfare capitalism and social fragmentation. Structured over three parts, the book analyses; the transformations of welfare societies and capitalism with a focus on South European welfare states and their (in)capacity to tackle poverty; the transformation of work and migration with a special attention to informality and the question of social rights; and the transformation of cities.This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1, No poverty.Trade Review'Two aspects constitute the value added by this book. First, it defines a framework for addressing issues related to Western capitalism throughout the various sections. Secondly, and strictly related to the issues being faced, innovative and inclusive initiatives to overcome the pessimistic vision are discussed in this book. [...] Progressive social movements, new political parties and traditional social democratic parties are being challenged to reinvent social contracts.'Federico Camerin, Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, Vol. 13, No. 2, November 2019 -- .Table of ContentsFraming the issues at stake1 Western capitalism in transition: global processes, local challenges – Alberta Andreotti, David Benassi, Yuri Kazepov2 A child of its times: the “new urban sociology” in context and its legacy – Michael HarloePart I: The transformations of global capitalism3 Abstract from the concrete: capitalism spiralling out of control – David Harvey4 Rethinking social reproduction in an era of the dominance of finance capital – Gavin Smith5 On the social (dis)embedding of the economy in a local context: where anthropology and sociology share metaphors as analytical tools – Simone GhezziPart II: Welfare capitalism and rights6 The underclass and international comparison, variety and universalism – Jean-Claude Barbier7 Welfare migration and civic stratification: Britain's emergent rights regime – Lydia Morris8 The Mediterranean welfare states between recalibration and change in the cultural paradigm – Nicola Negri and Chiara SaracenoPart III: Citizenship and migration9 Deconstructing labour demand: implications for low wage employment – Saskia Sassen10 International migrations and the Mediterranean – Enrico Pugliese11 Cities under economic austerity: the return of citizenship claims – Marisol GarcíaPart IV: Cities and urban transformations12 The sense of touch – Richard Sennett13 Urban disorder and the transformation of global governance – Sophie Body-Gendrot14 Urban political economy beyond convergence: robust but differentiated unequal European cities – Patrick Le GalèsPart V: Segregation and the spatial dimension of poverty15 The spatial dimension of poverty – Susan S. Fainstein and Norman Fainstein16 Urban segregation, inequalities and local welfare: the challenges of neoliberalisation – Marco Oberti and Edmond Préteceille17 Urban poverty and social cohesion: lessons from Naples – Enrica MorlicchioPerspectives on the future of western capitalism18 The double movement and the perspectives of contemporary capitalism – Enzo MingioneIndex

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Book SynopsisAusterity was presented as the antidote to sluggish economies, but it has had far-reaching effects on jobs and employment conditions. With an international team of editors and authors from Europe, North America and Australia, this illuminating collection goes beyond a sole focus on public sector work and uniquely covers the impact of austerity on work across the private, public and voluntary spheres. Drawing on a range of perspectives, the book engages with the major debates surrounding austerity and neoliberalism, providing grounded analysis of the everyday experience of work and employment.Table of ContentsPART I: Introduction Understanding Austerity: Its Reach and Presence in the Changing Context of Work and Employment ~ Donna Baines and Ian Cunningham PART II: Trends and Themes The Age of Increased Precarious Employment: Origins and Implications ~ Wayne Lewchuk Stepping Stone or Dead End? The Ambiguities of Platform-Mediated Domestic Work under Conditions of Austerity. Comparative Landscapes of Austerity and the Gig Economy: New York and Berlin ~ Niels van Doorn Trends in Collective Bargaining, Wage Stagnation and Income Inequality under Austerity ~ Ian Cunningham and Philip James Privatization, Hybridization and Resistance in Contemporary Care Work ~ Pat Armstrong and Donna Baines PART III: Case Studies of Austerity in the Private, Public and Nonprofit Sectors Non-Citizenship at Work: Labour Flexibility Behind the Counter in Western Canada ~ Geraldina Polanco What We Talk About When We Talk About Austerity: Social Policy, Public Management and Politics of Eldercare Funding in Canada and China ~ Kendra Strauss and Feng Xu Public Sector Reform and Work Restructuring for Firefighters in Scotland ~ Eva Jendro and Dora Scholarios Austerity, Personalized Funding and the Degradation of Care Work: Comparing Scotland’s Self-Directed Support Policy and Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme ~ Donna Baines and Doug Young The Rise of Managerialism in the US: Whither Worker Control? ~ Mimi Abramovitz and Jennifer Zelnick Austerity and the Irish Non-Profit Voluntary and Community Sector ~ Pauric O’Rourke PART IV: Alternatives and Resistance ‘The most striking progressive achievement in labor and employment policy’? The Scottish Living Wage in Social Care during Austerity ~ Alina M. Baluch Legislation: A Double-Edged Sword in Union Resistance to Zero-Hours Work – The Case of Ireland ~ Juliette MacMahon, Lorraine Ryan, Michelle O’Sullivan, Jonathan Lavelle, Caroline Murphy, Mike O’Brien, Tom Turner and Patrick Gunnigle Moral Projects and Compromise Resistance: Resisting Uncaring in Non-Profit Care Work ~ Donna Baines Austerity, Resistance and the Labour Movement ~ Helen Blakely and Steve Davies Afterword: Final Word and the Path Forward – Is the Myth of Austerity Giving Way to Myth of the Robots Taking the Jobs? ~ Jill Rubery

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Book SynopsisRecent developments in the organization of work and production have facilitated the decline of wage employment in many regions of the world. However, the idea of the wage continues to dominate the political imaginations of governments, researchers and activists, based on the historical experiences of industrial workers in the global North. This edited collection revitalises debates on the future of work by challenging the idea of wage employment as the global norm. Taking theoretical inspiration from the global South, the authors compare lived experiences of ‘ordinary work’ across taken-for-granted conceptual and geographical boundaries; from Cambodian brick kilns to Catalonian cooperatives. Their contributions open up new possibilities for how work, identity and security might be woven together differently. This volume is an invaluable resource for academics, students and readers interested in alternative and emerging forms of work around the world.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Work Beyond the Wage ~ William Monteith, Dora-Olivia Vicol and Philippa Williams Part One: RUPTURES Chapter 1., "Shit Wages" and Side Hustles: Ordinary Working Lives in Nairobi, London and Berlin ~ Tatiana Thieme Chapter 2., The Work of Looking for Work: Surviving Without a Wage in Austerity Britain ~ Sam Strong Chapter 3., Seeking Attachment in the Fissured Workplace: External Workers in the United States ~ Claudia Strauss Part Two: RESIGNATIONS Chapter 4., Wilful Resignations: Women, Labour and Life in Urban India ~ Asiya Islam Chapter 5., ‘Be Your Own Boss’: Entrepreneurial Dreams on the Urban Margins of South Africa ~ Hannah Dawson Chapter 6., Work Outside the Hamster’s Cage: Precarity and the Pursuit of a Life Worth Living in Catalonia ~ Vinzenz Bäumer Escobar Chapter 7., Choosing to be Unfree? The Aspirations and Constraints of Debt-bonded Brick Workers in Cambodia ~ Nithya Natarajan, Katherine Brickell, and Laurie Parsons Part Three: STRUGGLES Chapter 8., “Earning Money as the Wheels Turn Around”: Cycle-rickshaw Drivers and Wageless Work in Dhaka ~ Annemiek Prins Chapter 9., Going Gojek, or Staying Ojek? Competing Visions of Work and Economy in Jakarta’s Motorbike Taxi Industry ~ Mechthild von Vacano Chapter 10., "I Voted Bolsonaro for President": Street Vending and the Crisis of Labour Representation in Belo Horizonte, Brazil ~ Mara Nogueira Part Four: POSSIBILITIES Chapter 11., Extraordinary: Crisis, Charity and Care in London’s World without Work ~ Dora-Olivia Vicol Chapter 12., Defending the Wage: Visions of Work and Distribution in Namibia ~ E. Fouksman

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Book SynopsisThis agenda-setting book shows how freedom of movement has made the integration of Europe’s labour markets a contentious issue, for example in the aftermath of the eurocrisis, where workers had to make great sacrifices to enable the currency area to function. It argues that the process of market integration in Europe has undermined the power and influence of European workers and generated significant human costs. In starting from the position of labour, this book offers an alternative approach which balances the needs of justice and efficiency. With appeal across a wide range of readers interested in economic integration, it provides lessons for policymakers in how to integrate Europe’s member states to better protect workers and citizens.Table of ContentsI. A New Approach 1. Belaboured Europe 2. The Uniqueness of Labour 3. An Optimum Labour Area? II. Starting Points 4. From the Beginning 5. A Multitude of Labour Markets III. Adjustment Mechanisms 6. The Demise of Member State Policy Autonomy 7. Europe to the Rescue? 8. Money and People on the Move IV. Results 9. The Power of Labour 10. Reducing Workaway

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Book SynopsisWestern culture has ‘faith’ in the labour market as a test of the worth of each individual. For those who are out of work, welfare is now less of a support than a means of purification and redemption. Continuously reformed by the left and right in politics, the contemporary welfare state attempts to transform the unemployed into active jobseekers, punishing non-compliance. Drawing on ideas from economic theology, this provocative book uncovers deep-rooted religious concepts and shows how they continue to influence contemporary views of work and unemployment: Jobcentres resemble purgatory where the unemployed attempt to redeem themselves, jobseeking is a form of pilgrimage in hope of salvation, and the economy appears as providence, whereby trials and tribulations test each individual. This book will be essential reading for those interested in the sociology and anthropology of modern economic life. Chapters 1 and 3 are available Open Access via OAPEN under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Paradoxes of Welfare Archaic Anthropology: The Presence of the Past in the Present Reform: Policies and the Polity Vocation: Doing God’s Work Purgatory: The Ideal of Purifying Suffering Pilgrimage: The Interminable Ritual of Jobseeking Curriculum Vitae: Confessions of Faith in the Labour Market Conclusion: Parables of Welfare

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Book SynopsisDrawing on case studies from Germany, Britain and Spain, this book offers a novel assessment of labour struggles and class formation. Gallas explores key issues around class relations, struggles around waged and unwaged work and labour movements in contemporary capitalism to bring class theory back to labour studies.

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Book SynopsisMore people are extending their working lives through necessity or choice in the context of increasingly precarious labour markets and neoliberalism. This book goes beyond the aggregated statistics to explore the lived experiences of older people attempting to make job transitions. Drawing on the voices of older workers in a diverse range of European countries, leading scholars explore job redeployment and job mobility, temporary employment, unemployment, employment beyond pension age and transitions into retirement. This book makes a major contribution and will be essential reading within a range of disciplines, including social gerontology, management, sociology and social policy.Table of ContentsPart I: Introducing Older Worker Job Transitions in a Neoliberal Era 1. Job Transitions in Older Age in an Era of Neoliberal Responsibilisation ~ David Lain, Sarah Vickerstaff and Mariska van der Horst 2. The Social Construction of Work and Retirement: Changing Transitions and ‘Work- endings’ ~ Chris Phillipson Part II: European Experiences of Older Worker Transitions 3. Job Redeployment of Older Workers in UK Local Government ~ David Lain, Sarah Vickerstaff and Mariska van der Horst 4. Time, Precarisation and Age Normality: On Internal Job Mobility among Men in Manual Work in Sweden ~ Clary Krekula 5. Temporary Older Workers in Belgium as a Demonstration of a Paradoxical Situation ~ Nathalie Burnay 6. Attempted Transitions from Unemployment in Italy ~ Emma Garavaglia 7. Divorced Women Working Past Pension Age in Germany and the UK: The Long Shadow of the Female Homemaker Model~ Anna Hokema 8. Expectations of Transitions to Retirement in Ireland ~ Áine Ní Léime Part III: Conclusions and Discussion 9. Retirement and Responsibilisation: Current Narratives about the End of Working Life ~ David Lain, Sarah Vickerstaff and Mariska van der Horst

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Book SynopsisMuch of the debate on the future of work has focused on responses to technological trends in the Global North, with little evidence on how these trends are impacting work and workers in the Global South. Drawing on a rich selection of ethnographic studies of precarious work in Africa, this innovative book discusses how globalisation and digitalisation are drivers for structural change and examines their implications for labour. Bringing together global labour studies and inequality studies, it explores the role of digital technology in new business models, and ways in which digitalisation can be harnessed for counter mobilisation by the new worker.Table of Contents1. The End of Labour? Rethinking the Labour Question in the Digital Age 2. Precarious Work after Apartheid: Experimenting with Alternative Forms of Representation in the Informal Sector - with Kally Forrest 3. Neo-liberalism comes to Johannesburg: Changing the Rules of the Game 4. Divided Workers, Divided Struggles: Entrenching Dualisation and the Struggle for Equalisation in South Africa’s Manufacturing Sector - Lynford Dor 5. Authoritarian Algorithmic Management: The Double-edged Sword of the Gig Economies - with Fikile Masikane 6. Crossing the Divide: Informal Workers and Trade Unions - with Carmen Ludwig 7. Global Capital, Global Labour: The Possibilities of Transnational Activism - with Carmen Ludwig 8. Changing Sources of Power and the Future of Southern Labour

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Book SynopsisMarx argued that capitalist society acts against the core capacities, skills and talents of human beings, and that it also limits their realisation or channels them into activities related to profit rather than need. Bringing Marx’s theory of alienation forward to the present day, this book uniquely links it to health and well-being. Using case studies and vignettes of workers across different industries, it reveals their lived experiences, offering crucial insights into the insidious ways in which capitalism continues to damage human well-being. This is a resounding call for how society can change for the better.Table of ContentsPreface 1. What is Alienation? 2. Responding to Criticisms of Alienation Theory 3. Alienation and Wellbeing 4. Case Study: Social workers, the Compassionate Self, and Disappointed Jugglers 5. Is Alienation Theory Still Relevant? 6. Beyond Alienation?

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