Abstract
Before we can start to talk about work we have to decide what we mean by the term: we have to decide when a particular activity is work and when it is not. The concept of work is not easy to define precisely, but we shall begin with a fairly loose definition and develop the idea from that. Work can be defined as the expenditure of effort or energy to some purpose such as the continued existence of a person or a community or a society or group. By ‘continued existence’ we do not mean staying alive in an immediate sense, but rather providing the necessities of life, such as food, clothing and shelter.
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Further Reading
Baxter, J. and Gibson, D. with Lynch-Blosse, M. (1990) Double Take: The Links Between Paid and Unpaid Work, AGPS, Canberra.
Encel, S. and Campbell, D. (1991) Out of the Doll’s House: Women in the Public Sphere, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.
Game, A. and Pringle, R. (1983) Gender at Work, Allen and Unwin, Sydney.
Pahl, R.E. (ed.) (1988) On Work: Historical, Comparative and Theoretical Approaches, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Williams, C. (1981) Open Cut, Allen and Unwin, Sydney.
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© 1992 Gillian Lupton, Patricia Short and Rosemary Whip
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Whip, R., Lupton, G. (1992). Work and Employment. In: Society and Gender. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15168-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15168-4_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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