Precarious Employment Systems Research Articles

Bad Jobs as a Core Driver of Growing Social Inequality in the United States. Book Review: Kalleberg A. (2011) Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s, New York: Russell Sage Foundation

This is a review of a masterpiece by a famous professor of labor sociology. Anyone looking for understanding current labor market processes needs to read this latest work by Arne L. Kalleberg, the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kalleberg focuses on the US and shares his deep understanding of a wide range of social and economic mechanisms of the labor market under globalization. The book gives a vivid description of the current labor market and provides an explanation for the changes that brought about the rise of precarious employment. The book sheds light on the reasons for the dramatic increase in polarization and inequality between jobs and both between and within occupations. Kalleberg argues that the US is in dire need of a new social contract to tackle the challenges that arise from a globalized division of labor, widening polarization in the quality of jobs, and the proliferation of precarious work. An example of such a new social contract is a “flexicurity” system, aspects of which exist today in some countries. Kalleberg claims that only a coordinated effort by government, business and labor can address the sources and consequences of the polarization in job quality and that only such an effort will be able to improve both the economic competitiveness of the US and the quality of jobs and lives of American citizens. Though the book itself is focused on the American labor market during the last forty years, this review attempts to place Kalleberg’s ideas into a global context.

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, <i>Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s</i>

Book review symposium: Response to Reviews of Arne L Kalleberg, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Book review symposium: Response to Reviews of Arne L Kalleberg, <i>Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s</i>

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, <i>Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s</i>

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Book review symposium: Arne L Kalleberg, <i>Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s</i>

Structuration of precarious employment in economically constrained firms: the case of Dutch agriculture

Precarious employment practices such as short‐term contracts, low pay and lack of voice have undesired outcomes for workers, because these impede employees in their ethical rights to freedom, well‐being and equality. Still, precarious employment practice is common in sectors with restrained economic conditions, such as Dutch agriculture. However, in every restrained industry, examples of more socially responsible employment management are reported. The question why some firms develop more socially responsible employment systems when economic conditions predict the use of low cost, precarious employment systems is central in this article. Structuration theory provides a lens to understand how employers position their employment practice in the wider (institutionalised) social context. Insight in the reproduction circuits that link employers' actions with their social context (product, market, institutions and policies, demographics) can reveal where, at a sector level, change to avoid unethical employment practice could start.

The Strange Non‐Death of Neoliberalism, by Colin Crouch

Crouch, Colin. The Strange Non‐Death of Neoliberalism. : , 2011. 214 pp. US$19.95 (paperback). Kalleberg, Arne L. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs. The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s. : , 2011. 292 pp. US$37.50 (hardcover). (A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology.)

Arne L. Kalleberg: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Arne L. Kalleberg: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s By Arne L. Kalleberg Russell Sage Foundation. 2011. 292 pages. $37.50 cloth * Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone By Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman Russell Sage Foundation. 2011. 181 pages. $24.95 paper

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s By Arne L. Kalleberg Russell Sage Foundation. 2011. 292 pages. $37.50 cloth * Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone By Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman Russell Sage Foundation. 2011. 181 pages. $24.95 paper

Book Review: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s, Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone

Book Review: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s, Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s. By Arne L. Kalleberg. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2011. Pp. xvi+292. $37.50.

<i>Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s</i>. By Arne L. Kalleberg. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2011. Pp. xvi+292. $37.50.

Job Quality and Precarious Work

In this article, the author engages with the authors of the articles in this Special Issue by clarifying some aspects of the arguments in Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s; addressing selected matters of controversy; and highlighting central policy challenges raised by the rise of polarized and precarious employment systems. The author organizes his comments around several key themes raised by these authors: The causes of changes in job quality; the polarization model; cross-national differences in precarious work; and policy recommendations and the politics of job quality.

Book Review: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Book Review: Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

Good jobs, bad jobs: the rise of polarized and precarious employment systems in the United States, 1970s and 2000s

Good jobs, bad jobs: the rise of polarized and precarious employment systems in the United States, 1970s and 2000s