Chapter 12 Work and the Workplace

Structural Changes in the Economy By Industrial Revolution began changing the nature of work, moving people from primary sector jobs (produce raw materials) to secondary sector jobs (turn raw materials into finished products). After 1950 – Information Revolution caused deindustrialization and move to service jobs, tertiary sector of the economy.

Deindustrialization Deindustrialization resulted in the closing of many industrial factories. Many people whose factory jobs disappeared ended up with service jobs offering lower pay and fewer benefits. –Primary labor market vs. Secondary labor market

Global Economy Global economy is linked to deindustrialization in the United States. –Many U.S. corporations moved manufacturing plants abroad, where they could pay lower wages (outsourcing).

Alienation –(Marx) powerlessness in the workplace resulting in the experience of isolation and misery –(Weber) a rational focus on efficiency and bureaucracy, which causes depersonalization in the workplace

Urbanization The concentration of humanity into cities –Gemeinschaft – type of social organization by which people are bound closely together by kinship and tradition –Gesellschaft – type of social organization by which people have weak social ties and considerable self-interest

McDonalization McDonalization defines work in terms of four principles: –Efficiency –Predictability –Uniformity –Automation

Temp Work About 25% of the U.S. labor force lack job security and have few benefits. Temporary workers, contract employees, and part-timers experience this problem in the workplace.

Unemployment and Union Decline Unemployment – 8 million or 5.1% of the labor force in 2005 Union decline – Today, roughly 13% of U.S. workers are union members. Labor unions are worker organizations that seek to improve wages and working conditions.

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Institutional Prejudice and Discrimination – workplace segregation and limitation of minorities and women. –Concentration to lower-paying work –“Glass-ceiling”

New Information Technology Computers and other new information technology are redefining work in the United States. – Isolate workers –“Deskilling” many jobs

Theoretical Analysis Structural-Functional –Changes can disrupt established patterns of work and/or unemployment Social-Conflict –Marxist analysis on capitalism –Weber’s analysis of workplace highlights bureaucracy (impersonality, hierarchy) Symbolic-Interaction –Primary, secondary, and tertiary sector labor