Abstract
Much of our social and material fabric rests on the work that we do, whether paid or not, so it is not surprising that work has been of central interest to sociology. This chapter examines the relationship between work and non-work and the variety of experiences associated with both. It tries to help students to understand how the nature of work changed in the shift from pre-modern to modern societies, and the pivotal role played by industrial capitalism in this process. In pre-modern times, social activity was much less clearly demarcated into periods of ‘work’ and ‘leisure’, and the physical location of work in a separate domain was largely absent. Industrial capitalism transformed the definition of work and the experience of the worker, while at the same time recasting people as consumers of leisure. The chapter returns time and again to the question of how the experience of work and non-work in modernity is mediated by age, race and ethnicity, and, especially, by gender.
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Further Reading
Casey, Catherine (1995) Work, Self and Society: an Introduction, Routledge, London. This study, based on fieldwork in a large multinational company, shows how the restructuring of the workplace is linked to changes in individual identity. Chapters 4 and 6 (‘The working self’ and ‘Designer employees’) provide interesting examples of these links, though the difficulty of some of this material makes it more suitable for instructors than for the majority of students.
Devine, Fiona (1992) Affluent Workers Revisited: Privatism and the Working Class, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. A re-evaluation of the classic sociological studies conducted in Luton three decades ago by John Goldthorpe and his colleagues, this book offers an overview of debates about geographical mobility, work and class identity. Devine uses interviews with Vauxhall workers and their wives to explore working-class lifestyle and motivations, and to reconsider the implications of work for working-class identity.
Gaffikin, F. and Morrissey, M. (eds) (1992) The New Unemployed: Joblessness and Poverty in the Market Economy, Zed Books, London. This edited volume contains several succinct and informative analyses of the shape of modern unemployment, and of its causes and consequences. Particularly useful is the article ‘The UK: engineered mass unemployment’ by Brendan McDonnell.
Ritzer, George (1996) The McDonaldization of Society, rev edn, Pine Forge Press, California (Sage, London). A witty book, which can bring alive sociological theory and its application to industrial restructuring and to the experience of workers and consumers. Recommended reading for those students who want to ‘specialise’ in work and industry.
Watson, Tony J. (1995) Sociology of Work and Industry, 3rd edn, Routledge, London. A useful and thorough coverage of the field. Chapter 7 on ‘Conflict, challenge and control in work’ is a lively review of research in this field, including sections on forms of adjustment and defence — such as joking, cursing and horseplay — that are entertaining as well as instructive.
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© 1998 Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth and Andrew Webster
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Bilton, T., Bonnett, K., Jones, P., Skinner, D., Stanworth, M., Webster, A. (1998). Work and Non-Work. In: Introductory Sociology. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14741-0_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14741-0_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-72709-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-14741-0
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