an article by Karen Escott (Sheffield Hallam University) published in Work, Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 3 (June 2012)
Abstract
This article examines worklessness among young women living in 10 disadvantaged communities across England. The data shows that despite dynamic economic circumstances and New Labour’s work incentives, responses to the employment aspirations of many young women were inadequate.
In addition to the influence of social characteristics such as ethnicity and qualifications in determining employment rates, experiences of discrimination, poor health and caring responsibilities affect many young women.
Neighbourhood variations in the reasons for worklessness, even among highly employable young women, suggest that the multiple issues affecting disadvantaged groups are also influenced by local job markets. Occupational segregation and clustering into particular industries are added constraints for young women which are largely ignored in welfare policies seeking to address youth unemployment.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Work Identity in Crisis? Rethinking the Problem of Attachment and Loss at Work
an article by Tim Strangleman (University of Kent, Canterbury) published in Sociology Volume 46 Number 3 (June 2012)
Abstract
The identity and meaning people obtain from their work is a central issue in contemporary sociology.
There is a debate between those suggesting that we have witnessed either great rupture or continuity in the way employees engage with their jobs.
This article reframes the question posed, developing a critical theoretical framework for understanding narratives of change derived from a range of theorists using concepts of nostalgia, tradition and generations. This framework is then used to read a set of work/life history interviews and autobiographical material from mainly older male workers in the UK railway industry who lament the erosion of their workplace culture and the sustainable moral order of the past.
The article seeks to move beyond dismissing such accounts as simple nostalgia and instead suggests that these narratives can be understood as valuable organic critiques of industrial and social change emergent from work culture.
Abstract
The identity and meaning people obtain from their work is a central issue in contemporary sociology.
There is a debate between those suggesting that we have witnessed either great rupture or continuity in the way employees engage with their jobs.
This article reframes the question posed, developing a critical theoretical framework for understanding narratives of change derived from a range of theorists using concepts of nostalgia, tradition and generations. This framework is then used to read a set of work/life history interviews and autobiographical material from mainly older male workers in the UK railway industry who lament the erosion of their workplace culture and the sustainable moral order of the past.
The article seeks to move beyond dismissing such accounts as simple nostalgia and instead suggests that these narratives can be understood as valuable organic critiques of industrial and social change emergent from work culture.
The Reifying and Commoditizing Effects of Disciplines
an article by Willem H. Vanderburg (University of Toronto, Canada) published in Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society Volume 32 Number 1 (February 2012)
Abstract
The present analysis revisits the economics of inattention and the resulting commoditization and creation of privileged goods. These act as a significant force that pushes human history toward a future that will be less livable and sustainable.
The analysis traces the roots of these developments to the reorganization of human knowing and doing by putting them on a discipline-based footing.
It is part of a larger analysis that shows the need to create a different kind of scientific and technical specialization that rebalances breadth with depth, and the accompanying university reforms that will be required.
Abstract
The present analysis revisits the economics of inattention and the resulting commoditization and creation of privileged goods. These act as a significant force that pushes human history toward a future that will be less livable and sustainable.
The analysis traces the roots of these developments to the reorganization of human knowing and doing by putting them on a discipline-based footing.
It is part of a larger analysis that shows the need to create a different kind of scientific and technical specialization that rebalances breadth with depth, and the accompanying university reforms that will be required.
The new ‘hidden abode’: reflections on value and labour in the new economy
an article by Steffen Böhm and Chris Land (University of Essex) published in The Sociological Review Volume 60 Issue 2 (May 2012)
Abstract
In a pivotal section of Capital, volume 1, Marx (1976: 279) notes that, in order to understand the capitalist production of value, we must descend into the ‘hidden abode of production’: the site of the labour process conducted within an employment relationship.
In this paper we argue that by remaining wedded to an analysis of labour that is confined to the employment relationship, Labour Process Theory (LPT) has missed a fundamental shift in the location of value production in contemporary capitalism.
We examine this shift through the work of Autonomist Marxists like Hardt and Negri, Lazaratto and Arvidsson, who offer theoretical leverage to prise open a new ‘hidden abode’ outside employment, for example in the ‘production of organization’ and in consumption.
Although they can open up this new ‘hidden abode’, without LPT’s fine-grained analysis of control/resistance, indeterminacy and structured antagonism, these theorists risk succumbing to empirically naive claims about the ‘new economy’. Through developing an expanded conception of a ‘new hidden abode’ of production, the paper demarcates an analytical space in which both LPT and Autonomist Marxism can expand and develop their understanding of labour and value production in today’s economy.
Abstract
In a pivotal section of Capital, volume 1, Marx (1976: 279) notes that, in order to understand the capitalist production of value, we must descend into the ‘hidden abode of production’: the site of the labour process conducted within an employment relationship.
In this paper we argue that by remaining wedded to an analysis of labour that is confined to the employment relationship, Labour Process Theory (LPT) has missed a fundamental shift in the location of value production in contemporary capitalism.
We examine this shift through the work of Autonomist Marxists like Hardt and Negri, Lazaratto and Arvidsson, who offer theoretical leverage to prise open a new ‘hidden abode’ outside employment, for example in the ‘production of organization’ and in consumption.
Although they can open up this new ‘hidden abode’, without LPT’s fine-grained analysis of control/resistance, indeterminacy and structured antagonism, these theorists risk succumbing to empirically naive claims about the ‘new economy’. Through developing an expanded conception of a ‘new hidden abode’ of production, the paper demarcates an analytical space in which both LPT and Autonomist Marxism can expand and develop their understanding of labour and value production in today’s economy.
A job, a dream or a trap? Multiple meanings for encore careers
an article by Mary Simpson and Margaret Richardson (University of Waikato, New Zealand) and Theodore E Zorn (Massey University, New Zealand) published in Work, Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 3 (June 2012
Abstract
Governments and activists are interested in the ageing workforce, as both a problem and, potentially, an asset.
Terms such as ‘positive ageing’ and ‘successful ageing’ are increasingly used rhetorically to (re)frame the working lives of elders, and demand careful examination. A recent entry in the discursive re-construction of work in later life is ‘encore careers’, which highlights retirement as a time when individuals choose to use their wealth of experience, engaging in work that matters and makes meaningful contributions to society.
This article reports on a study that used a multiple perspectives approach to analyse the discourse of elders engaged in encore careers and managers who work with them.
Abstract
Governments and activists are interested in the ageing workforce, as both a problem and, potentially, an asset.
Terms such as ‘positive ageing’ and ‘successful ageing’ are increasingly used rhetorically to (re)frame the working lives of elders, and demand careful examination. A recent entry in the discursive re-construction of work in later life is ‘encore careers’, which highlights retirement as a time when individuals choose to use their wealth of experience, engaging in work that matters and makes meaningful contributions to society.
This article reports on a study that used a multiple perspectives approach to analyse the discourse of elders engaged in encore careers and managers who work with them.
Academic Uses of Google Earth and Google Maps in a Library Setting
an article
by Eva Dodsworth (University of Waterloo Library, Canada) and Andrew Nicholson (University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada) published in Information Technology and Libraries Volume 31 Number 2 (June 2012)
Abstract
Over the last several years, Google Earth and Google Maps have been adopted by many academic institutions as an academic research and mapping tool. The authors were interested in discovering how popular the Google mapping products are in the academic library setting.
A survey was conducted to establish the mapping products’ popularity, and type of use in an academic library setting.
Results show that over 90% of the respondents use Google Earth and Google Maps either to help answer research questions, to create and access finding aids, for instructional purposes or for promotion and marketing.
The authors recommend expanding the mapping product’s user base to include all reference and liaison librarians.
Full text (PDF 16pp)
Abstract
Over the last several years, Google Earth and Google Maps have been adopted by many academic institutions as an academic research and mapping tool. The authors were interested in discovering how popular the Google mapping products are in the academic library setting.
A survey was conducted to establish the mapping products’ popularity, and type of use in an academic library setting.
Results show that over 90% of the respondents use Google Earth and Google Maps either to help answer research questions, to create and access finding aids, for instructional purposes or for promotion and marketing.
The authors recommend expanding the mapping product’s user base to include all reference and liaison librarians.
Full text (PDF 16pp)
Urban studies
via Directorate for Education (OECD educationtoday blog)
To many people, the phrase “inner-city schools” is synonymous with crumbling buildings, frustrated teachers, disengaged students, truancy and violence. In some urban areas, though, city schools and the students who attend them flourish. In fact, three of the top five performers in reading in the PISA 2009 survey – Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore – are large cities. So are big cities a boon or a bane for education?
Read more
To many people, the phrase “inner-city schools” is synonymous with crumbling buildings, frustrated teachers, disengaged students, truancy and violence. In some urban areas, though, city schools and the students who attend them flourish. In fact, three of the top five performers in reading in the PISA 2009 survey – Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore – are large cities. So are big cities a boon or a bane for education?
Read more
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