Description
Book SynopsisA distinctive exploration of how workers see work For more than twenty years, Robert Bruno has taught labor history and labor studies to union members from a wide range of occupations and demographic groups. In the class, he asked his students to finish the question “Work is—?” in six words or less. The thousands of responses he collected provide some of the rich source material behind What Work Is. Bruno draws on the thoughts and feelings experienced by workers in the present day to analyze how we might design a future of work. He breaks down perceptions of work into five categories: work and time; the space workers occupy; the impact of work on our lives; the sense of purpose that motivates workers; and the people we work for, in all senses of the term.
Far-seeing and sympathetic, What Work Is merges personal experiences with research, poetry, and other diverse sources to illuminate workers’ lives in the present and envision wha
Trade Review
“Understanding what work means is critically important for understanding the lived experiences of millions of people and for research and policymaking. Bruno gives voice to workers who are critically important for society but overlooked by research focused on the managerial and professional class. The nuances revealed by the workers’ own words can’t be observed in statistical analyses, and the more we learn about their experiences through their own voices, the better.”--John W. Budd, author of The Thought of Work
"Bruno’s humanistic analysis often approaches the poetic ('Work hurts. Work disables and abuses. It exhausts, stresses, and ultimately kills. Work dictates life spans. It also invigorates, inspires, satisfies, and brings joy'), and his shrewd recommendations for improving American labor include strong unions, reducing the 40-hour workweek, and stronger enforcement of overtime benefits. It’s a worthy update to Studs Terkel’s Working." --Publisher's Weekly
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Time of Work
Chapter 2. Work and Space
Chapter 3. Work’s Impact
Chapter 4. The Purpose of Work
Chapter 5. The Subject of Work
Conclusion
Index
