Work In Modern Society Research Articles

<em>Labor and Monopoly Capital</em> Twenty Years After: An Introduction

It is a measure of the influence of Harry Braverman and radical labor process analysts generally that only two decades after the publication of Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (1974) it is difficult to recall the absolute confidence with which the orthodox view of work relations was espoused in the early post-Second World War years. At that time the preeminent interpretation of work in modern society was the one presented by Clark Kerr, John Dunlop, and others in a book entitled Industrialism and Industrial Man (1960).This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century: A Reprint

My topic this evening is the "degradation of work in the twentieth century," and there is one firm generalization with which we may begin—that is, that humanity is a working species. Our relationship with nature is not merely one of food-gathering or seeking shelter in the crevices provided ready-made by nature. Rather humanity takes the materials provided by nature and alters them into objects more useful to itself. Humanity works in order to live, to provide itself with the means and provisions of life. Thus even though men and women often have occasion to complain of work as a constraint laid upon the species, there is never any doubt that work as a species characteristic is as natural to human life as grazing or hunting are to other species. But it would be the greatest of all possible mistakes to take any simple truisms of this sort, whether in the form of Biblical laments or biological and evolutionary constraints, as the direct basis for an analysis of work in modern society. Between biology and sociology, civilization—with all of its social relations and institutions—intervenes.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The Interpretation of Nonoccupational Work in Modern Society: A Preliminary Discussion and Typology

This paper is a general and preliminary attempt to deal with the various meanings associated with work in modern society. It is claimed that such an approach requires that sociologists expand their theoretical and empirical concern to include the many nonoccupational forms of work found in social movements and alternative communities. A scheme (based on time and sacred-secular variables) for classifying and studying such forms of work is presented and six examples are discussed. When these alternative forms of work are considered, it becomes apparent that the meaning of modern work is highly variable and problematic. This variation is reflected in the ways in which work is organized and rewarded, and how it is linked to modern technology and the life cycle.

The Interpretation of Nonoccupational Work in Modern Society: A Preliminary Discussion and Typology

The Interpretation of Nonoccupational Work in Modern Society: A Preliminary Discussion and Typology

Personal Care Services: An Identity for Social Work

Perhaps 10 percent of the total population of all ages can be considered to require long-term caretaking attention by other adults. By some estimates, as much as 3 percent of the labor force is devoted to such caretaking functions. The role of social work in modern society is examined against this background. Social workers are considered to be employed in host agencies where they perform useful but secondary functions in the host system, or in programs dominated by social workers, or in systems such as income maintenance where the assignment of professional roles remains unclear. It is suggested that social work's acceptance of responsibility for managing the caretaking function in modern society will provide an unambiguous foundation for professional development and responsibility with widespread social acceptance.

Psychological, social, and economic meanings of work in modern society: their effects on the worker facing retirement.

Psychological, social, and economic meanings of work in modern society: their effects on the worker facing retirement.