Meanings of Work: Considerations for the Twenty-First Century (S U N Y Series in the Anthropolgy of Work)

This book examines the fast-changing patterns of work in the global market and the resulting social, cultural, and economic impact on the work force.Meanings of Work examines interconnected cultural, social, and economic dimensions of human work. It provides an innovating interdisciplinary basis for understanding the fast changing patterns of work in a now globally unitary market, increasingly beset with problems such as contingent employment and decline of the middle class. In concentrating on sociocultural considerations of work, the book includes essays from Herbert Applebaum, Marietta L. Baba, Ivar Berg, Judith R. Blau, Amitai Etzioni, Frederick C. Gamst, Walter Goldschmidt, June Nash, and Robert Weiss.The authors discuss the scope, utility, applications, and limitations of historical and contemporary theories, analyses, and ideas about the integration of societies through work organizations and their occupational and other social statuses. Also included are the issues of discontent and satisfaction generated by work; the cultural meanings and myths of work; the exercise of power in work; the decision-making process as affected by emotions and values; the social expectations of work and nonwork, including the distinguishing of work from leisure; and the reactions to and processes of retirement from work.Frederick C. Gamst is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Harbor Campus, where he is associated with its Center for Labor Research. Other books written by Gamst include Peasants in Complex Society; Studies in Cultural Anthropology; Ideas of Culture: Sources and Uses; and The Hoghead: An Industrial Ethnology of the Locomotive Engineer. Meanings of Work Michael W. Coy, Jr., Anthropologist, A Dedication Contents Introduction Essays On Meanings Of Work Considerations of Work The Concept of Work in Western Thought Work As Career in Premodern Societies The Social Structure and Relations of Work Work and Technology in Modern Industrial Organizations Work Relations and the Web of Rules Postindustrialism, Post-Fordism, and the Crisis in World Capitalism The Work-Contingent Character of the American Middle Class Processes of Retirement from Work The Socioeconomic Perspective for the Study of Work Notes 1 Considerations of Work Work As Idea And Concept The Cultural Context of Work The Personal Dimension of Work The Social Dimension of Work The Temporal Dimension of Work Exertion Not Considered As Work Construction Of A Concept Of Work The Individual in the Work Environment Purpose in Work Gain and Livelihood in Work A Construction of Work The Place Of Work In Sociocultural Theory Concerning American And Canadian Societies The Centrality of the Study of Work The Study of the Community and Its Work Worker Participation In The Control Of Modern Work The Quandary of Employee Participation Control of Technological "Progress" in a Democratic Society The Future Of Work In North America The New Nature of Work Loss of Employment Notes References 2 The Concept of Work in Western Thought Introduction The Concept Of Work In Ancient Greece And Rome Homeric Society Classical Greece Hellenistic Greece Roman Republic and Roman Empire The Early Jewish And Christian Attitudes Toward Work Monasticism and the Concept of Work The Concept of Work During the Middle Ages The Modern Period: The Sixteenth Through The Eighteenth Centuries Luther and Calvin The English Enlightenment The French Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment Benjamin Franklin Utopian Socialists The Modern Period: The Nineteenth Century Karl Marx Other Thinkers The Modern Period: The Twentieth Century Thorstein Veblen Henri Bergson Hendrik de Man Hannah Arendt John Paul II Work And Technology Work, Leisure, And The Future Of Work References 3 Task Performance and Fulfillment: Work and Career in Tribal and Peasant Societies Three Examples Of Task Performance Careers Task Demands And Social Structure Task Performance And Peasantry Task Performance And Differentiation Task Performance And Ourselves Anthropology And Work References 4 Theories and Meanings of Work: Toward Syntheses Introduction Webs Of Rules Macro, Messo, And Micro Analyses Natural And Rational Systems Approaches To Work Some Additional Thoughts On The Web Of Rules Conclusion Coda References 5 Work and Technology in Modern Industry: The Creative Frontier1 Introduction Conceptualizing The Work-Technology Interface Causal Relations Between Work And Technology Technological Determinism Socio-Technical Systems Theory Cultural Construction of Technology Work Activity: The Creative Frontier Of Technology The Evolution Of The Work-Technology Relationship Conclusion Notes References 6 The Web of Rules in Comparative Work Relations Systems The Web Of Rules For Work Applying The Idea Of The Web Of Rules The Web In Preindustrial Society The Hunter-Gatherer Wayto The Agrarian Qemant The Web And Property Rights To Traditional Work The Web In American Society The Three Principal Bodies of Actors in the Web The Web And Property Rights To Industrial Work The Problem of Job Destruction in America The Issue of Job Protection in America The Web In American Railroading The Web in a Mature Industry The Special Place of Railroaders under the Federal Web Economic Security for Railroaders in the Web of Seniority Economic Security For Railroaders In The Web Of The Interstate Commerce Commission The ICC Job Protective Conditions Establishment and Limits of ICC Economic Security for Railroaders The Telegraphers' Further Attainments in Job Security under the RLA Railroaders' Increased Economic Security during the 1970s The Reversal of the Expansion of Railroaders' Economic Security Conclusions Notes Acknowledgment References 7 Post-Industrialism, Post-Fordism, and the Crisis in World Capitalism Post-Industrial Myths Fordism And After Corporate Hegemony In Pittsfield Newly Industrialized Countries And The Old Industrial Order Conclusion Notes References 8 The Contingent Character of the American Middle Class Class And Strata Justice Underpinnings Of Class Embeddedness Of Class Economy Or Culture? Historical Context Lifestyle, Institutions, and Ecology Declining Economic Equalities Decline of the Middle Class Conclusions Acknowledgment References 9 Processes of Retirement Expectations Regarding Retirement Inability to Continue Repudiating Work Pushed Out Schizmogenic Interaction Leading to Retirement Attracted by Retirement The Role Of Retirement Income Conclusion Acknowledgment References 10 The Socio-Economics of Work Work Versus Labor Incentives Work And Society: A Matter Of Moral Evaluations The Division Of Work Within The Family Acknowledgment References Contributors Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Meanings of Work examines interconnected cultural, social, and economic dimensions of human work. It provides an innovating interdisciplinary basis for understanding the fast changing patterns of work in a now globally unitary market, increasingly beset with problems such as contingent employment and decline of the middle class. In concentrating on sociocultural considerations of work, the book includes essays from Herbert Applebaum, Marietta L. Baba, Ivar Berg, Judith R. Blau, Amitai Etzioni, Frederick C. Gamst, Walter Goldschmidt, June Nash, and Robert Weiss. The authors discuss the scope, utility, applications, and limitations of historical and contemporary theories, analyses, and ideas about the integration of societies through work organizations and their occupational and other social statuses. Also included are the issues of discontent and satisfaction generated by work; the cultural meanings and myths of work; the exercise of power in work; the decision-making process as affected by emotions and values; the social expectations of work and nonwork, including the distinguishing of work from leisure; and the reactions to and processes of retirement from work.