The Sociology of Work

Definitive, critical and engaging, this is a superb introduction to the sociology of work. Edgell and Granter's expert narrative takes us from the cotton mills to the gig economy, and from unpaid domestic chores to visions of a post-work future. Indispensable. -- Leo McCann A welcome new edition of Sociology of Work that delivers on the promise to chronicle and to assess continuity and changes in paid and unpaid work over the longue duree. Key themes and theories drive chapters on alienation, the labor process, skill, organizational culture, Fordism, destandarization, and domestic work, culminating in the perfect bookend on work transformations across multiple historical globalizations spanning the global North and South. -- Heidi Gottfried The Sociology of Work is an introductory text that is more engaging and coherent than a traditional textbook. It provides an accessible entry point into the field, covering a vast literature and counterposing competing theories and perspectives, but within a systematic analytical framework and narrative. It appreciates the variable social construction of work and employment across history, understands capitalism as a distinct social system, and compellingly uses the framework of Fordism and Post-Fordism to highlight and understand changes in work and employment over the 20th and 21st centuries. -- Dr Matt Vidal