Search results for ""Author Harriet Bradley""

Gender issues continue to be a prominent concern of academics and policy-makers, and increasingly arise in various forms to be debated in the public sphere and popular media. But what exactly do we mean by gender? How can we best understand gender differences? How are current gender relations changing? What new paths are ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ taking? What would it be like to live in a society in which differences of gender were transcended? In this new edition of her popular and highly lauded book, Harriet Bradley provides an introduction to the concept of gender and the different theoretical approaches which have developed within gender studies. Utilizing life narratives, she investigates processes of gendering in three important spheres of contemporary social life: production, reproduction and consumption. The book highlights the centrality of gender in everyday life and shows how thinking about gender is influenced by changing political contexts. As well as updating the discussion with the latest scholarship, political concerns and economic data, the new edition pays closer attention to intersectionality and hybrid identities, as well as exploring the complexities of contemporary relations of masculinity and femininity in the light of new feminist activities. This lively and accessible book will be of interest to students across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in contemporary relations between women and men.

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The gap between rich and poor, included and excluded, advantaged and disadvantaged is steadily growing as inequality becomes one of the most pressing issues of our times. The new edition of this popular text explores current patterns of inequality in the context of increasing globalization, world recession and neoliberal policies of austerity. Within a framework of intersectionality, Bradley discusses various theories and concepts for understanding inequalities of class, gender, ethnicity and age, while an entirely new chapter touches on the social divisions arising from disabilities, non-heterosexual orientations and religious affiliation.Bradley argues that processes of fracturing, which complicate the way we as individuals identify and locate ourselves in relation to the rest of society, exist alongside a tendency to social polarization: at one end of the social hierarchy are the super-rich; at the other end, long-term unemployment and job insecurity are the fate of many, especially the young. In the reordering of the social hierarchy, members of certain ethnic minority groups, disabled people and particular segments of the working class suffer disproportionately, while prevailing economic conditions threaten to offset the gains made by women in past decades. Fractured Identities shows how only by understanding and challenging these developments can we hope to build a fairer and more socially inclusive society.

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Selling Our Youth explores how the class origins of recent graduates continue to shape their labour market careers and thus reproduce class privilege and class disadvantage. It shows how class and gender combine to influence these young adults’ opportunities and choices, in an era when this generation has been characterized as the first likely to end up worse off economically than their parents. The authors draw upon the landmark Paired Peers research project – an empirical longitudinal study of recent graduates in England – to explore their experiences of the contemporary globalized labour market. It demonstrates how many of these young, well qualified adults struggle to achieve stable and rewarding employment in the context of the overstocked graduate supply, precarious work and exploitative working conditions. Government policies of austerity, which were in place when these young people graduated in 2013, meant this generation faced the challenges of a lower wage economy and a housing crisis. The subsequent arrival of Covid-19 and its disastrous impacts on the local and global economy are making these challenges even tougher. The authors further explore the way differences of class and gender impact upon graduate trajectories.

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This engaging book offers a lively and rigorous synthesis of the varied interconnections between work and globalization. Drawing on relevant sociological insights, and based on extensive, up-to-date research studies of work and employment, it brings together for the first time in a single volume a range of key topics, including: consumption, work and identity in a globalizing world; work and employment in multinationals; international labour standards; trade unions, labour movements and labour conflict under globalization; gender and inequality; migrant labour; transnational mobility; and the organization of work in global factories. Globalization and Work challenges conceptions of globalization as a project orchestrated by governments, multinational companies and international agencies. The authors highlight the importance of integrating a grounded, bottom-up perspective which recognizes that globalization is not just something that happens to working people, thereby revealing the fascinating extent to which workers actively engage in producing globalization. Throughout, the book contains a number of features to deepen understanding, including case study boxes of topical examples from across the globe.Globalization and Work is an essential new book for anyone interested in globalization, the sociology of work and comparative employment relations, especially undergraduate and postgraduate students taking modules on these and related topics.

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This engaging book offers a lively and rigorous synthesis of the varied interconnections between work and globalization. Drawing on relevant sociological insights, and based on extensive, up-to-date research studies of work and employment, it brings together for the first time in a single volume a range of key topics, including: consumption, work and identity in a globalizing world; work and employment in multinationals; international labour standards; trade unions, labour movements and labour conflict under globalization; gender and inequality; migrant labour; transnational mobility; and the organization of work in global factories. Globalization and Work challenges conceptions of globalization as a project orchestrated by governments, multinational companies and international agencies. The authors highlight the importance of integrating a grounded, bottom-up perspective which recognizes that globalization is not just something that happens to working people, thereby revealing the fascinating extent to which workers actively engage in producing globalization. Throughout, the book contains a number of features to deepen understanding, including case study boxes of topical examples from across the globe.Globalization and Work is an essential new book for anyone interested in globalization, the sociology of work and comparative employment relations, especially undergraduate and postgraduate students taking modules on these and related topics.

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What's the point of studying business from a social perspective? How can sociology aid my understanding of the big issues facing businesses today? Can thinking sociologically really equip me better for a career in business? This book provides an indispensable introduction to business and organizations from a social perspective. Using classic and contemporary ideas and evidence, the book explores the connections between people, work, organizations and society. Carefully illustrated with a range of up-to-date case studies, the book shows how sociology can shed light on current developments in the business world. Drawing on their considerable experience of teaching sociology to a range of audiences, the authors provide a straightforward but still stimulating step-by-step guide to issues such as: discrimination and diversity in the workplace; trade unionism and industrial disputes; the need for ethics and legislation; and the changing roles of managers and employees. The book provides: Clearly-defined learning aims; Questions for discussion and reflection; Annotated suggestions for further reading; In-depth case studies linking sociological ideas to business realities. Written with the needs of students taking degrees outside the traditional social sciences in mind, such as business studies, human resources and management, the book is suitable for those approaching sociology for the very first time. Accessible and inspirational, it will help students to grasp new and exciting possibilities for thinking about business in the contemporary world.

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During the last two decades there have been profound changes in the organization of work. Myths at Work explores these changes, critically examining and challenging some of the central frameworks that have been used to explain them. Global economic restructuring has brought about changes in the jobs we do, our labour market opportunities, and the shape of our individual career paths. These changes have been explained through a number of potent 'myths' (in the sense of widely-held bodies of ideas) including globalization, post-fordist production methods, and a new consumer-based form of capitalism. The authors examine these myths, explain how they have come about, and question their accuracy. While doing so they provide a more accurate picture of employment and the modern workplace. They also look at the 'myths' of the feminisation of the labour force, the skills revolution, lean production, non-standard employment, the death of class, the end of trade unionism, and the 'economic worker'. The result is an illuminating and accessible teaching and research text that will appeal to students and academics in the sociology of work, organizational behaviour, business studies, and related areas.

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What's the point of studying business from a social perspective? How can sociology aid my understanding of the big issues facing businesses today? Can thinking sociologically really equip me better for a career in business? This book provides an indispensable introduction to business and organizations from a social perspective. Using classic and contemporary ideas and evidence, the book explores the connections between people, work, organizations and society. Carefully illustrated with a range of up-to-date case studies, the book shows how sociology can shed light on current developments in the business world. Drawing on their considerable experience of teaching sociology to a range of audiences, the authors provide a straightforward but still stimulating step-by-step guide to issues such as: discrimination and diversity in the workplace; trade unionism and industrial disputes; the need for ethics and legislation; and the changing roles of managers and employees. The book provides: Clearly-defined learning aims; Questions for discussion and reflection; Annotated suggestions for further reading; In-depth case studies linking sociological ideas to business realities. Written with the needs of students taking degrees outside the traditional social sciences in mind, such as business studies, human resources and management, the book is suitable for those approaching sociology for the very first time. Accessible and inspirational, it will help students to grasp new and exciting possibilities for thinking about business in the contemporary world.

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