Sociology of work and employment
Contents
Module 1: introduction .......................................................................................................................... 9
Conceptions of work and employment .............................................................................................. 9
What is work? .................................................................................................................................... 9
What is work?................................................................................................................................. 9
The value of work ......................................................................................................................... 10
Types of work ............................................................................................................................... 10
Labour, work, leisure, … ............................................................................................................... 11
The broader impact of work and production ............................................................................... 11
Impact on geographical spaces .................................................................................................... 11
Work as a social construct ............................................................................................................ 11
The ‘3 arenas’ of the world of work ................................................................................................. 12
Arena 1: Work organisation ............................................................................................................. 12
Arena 2: Labour market ................................................................................................................ 13
Arena 3: Industrial relations ......................................................................................................... 13
Industrial relations: EU-level actors.................................................................................................. 14
The world of work and Job Quality ................................................................................................... 14
Micro level: jobs and their ‘quality’ .................................................................................................. 15
Sociological traditions and the sociology of work ............................................................................ 15
The foundations of labour sociology ............................................................................................ 15
Scientific management (Taylorism) .............................................................................................. 16
Founding fathers I: Karl Marx ....................................................................................................... 16
De-skilling: labour process theory ................................................................................................ 17
Founding fathers II: Max Weber ................................................................................................... 17
Re/Up-skilling: Post-industrial society .......................................................................................... 17
Founding fathers III: Emile Durkheim ........................................................................................... 18
Work as a social system ................................................................................................................ 18
Founding fathers IV: Interactionism ............................................................................................. 19
Critiques and ‘new topics’ ............................................................................................................ 19
Discipline and control in the new workplace ................................................................................ 20
Sociological perspectives: Summary................................................................................................. 21
Module 2: Job quality in the contemporary workplace ........................................................................ 21
Job quality: introduction .................................................................................................................. 21
1
, Labour: a peculiar kind of medicine .............................................................................................. 21
Work and health inequalities ....................................................................................................... 22
Work to live or live to work? ........................................................................................................ 22
Theoretical underpinnings of the job quality-concept ..................................................................... 23
The roots of job quality ................................................................................................................ 23
Theoretical underpinnings of Job Quality ..................................................................................... 23
Theoretical underpinnings of Job Quality ..................................................................................... 24
The roots of Job Quality ............................................................................................................... 26
A definition of Job Quality ............................................................................................................ 27
Conceptualising Job Quality ............................................................................................................. 27
A family of concepts ..................................................................................................................... 27
Indicators of Job Quality ............................................................................................................... 27
The 4 A’s – a holistic approach towards JQ .................................................................................. 28
A summary approach towards JQ ................................................................................................. 28
Job quality and consequences ...................................................................................................... 29
Empirically measuring job quality .................................................................................................... 29
Measuring job quality ................................................................................................................... 29
Empirical approaches (and examples) .......................................................................................... 30
Empirically measuring job quality – dimensional approaches .......................................................... 30
Dimensional approaches: EUROFOUND’s job quality index ......................................................... 30
Socio-economic variation ............................................................................................................. 30
Variation in JQ in the EU ............................................................................................................... 31
Dimensional approaches: ETUI job quality index.......................................................................... 32
Variation in job quality ................................................................................................................. 33
Evolutions in job quality ............................................................................................................... 33
Theory based models: Demand-Control-(Support) ...................................................................... 34
Variation in JQ in the EU ............................................................................................................... 34
Effort-Reward-Imbalance ............................................................................................................. 34
Typological approaches ................................................................................................................ 35
Typological: Job quality typology.................................................................................................. 36
Causes of variation and trends in job quality ................................................................................... 37
Variation in job quality ................................................................................................................. 37
Trends in job quality ..................................................................................................................... 39
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 39
Module 3 – the story of industrialisation and de-industrialisation ...................................................... 40
The great transformation ................................................................................................................. 40
2
, Modernity, Capitalism & Industrialisation .................................................................................... 41
Industrial capitalism, a twofold term… ......................................................................................... 41
The meaning of work in industrial capitalism ............................................................................... 42
The industrial system ................................................................................................................... 42
Phases in the development of industrial capitalism (part I) ............................................................. 44
Phases of industrial capitalism: schematic ................................................................................... 44
Modes of collaboration ................................................................................................................ 44
The growth and decline of Fordism (part II) ..................................................................................... 45
Fordism......................................................................................................................................... 45
Fordism – As a mode of regulation ............................................................................................... 46
‘Fordisms’ – unity in plurality ....................................................................................................... 47
The crisis of Fordism ..................................................................................................................... 48
A production model in crisis ......................................................................................................... 48
An accumulation model in crisis ................................................................................................... 48
Intermezzo: The hidden injuries of de-industrialisation ................................................................... 49
De-industrialisation ...................................................................................................................... 49
‘After Fordism’: making sense of advanced capitalism..................................................................... 49
Major themes ............................................................................................................................... 49
Post-Fordism and the regulation school ....................................................................................... 50
New productive paradigms .......................................................................................................... 50
Renewed internationalisation – Globalisation.............................................................................. 51
De-globalisation? .......................................................................................................................... 52
Neo-liberalism .............................................................................................................................. 53
Guest lecture Gender Equality, Evie Rangelova.................................................................................... 53
Lecture plan...................................................................................................................................... 53
1. Overview of Gender equality (GE) in terms of statistics and in scientific literature ..................... 53
Overview of gender equality, statistics – Global Gender Gap Index, 2021 ................................... 53
2. Why is gender equality important to everybody? ........................................................................ 54
Gender equality affects everyone – the importance of diversity and equality for the overall
organizational well-being ............................................................................................................. 54
3. Gender equality and academia – the case of VUB ........................................................................ 55
Overview of gender equality, statistics – academia ..................................................................... 55
Gender equality in the scientific literature – academia ................................................................ 55
Gender equality – the case of VUB ............................................................................................... 55
Gender equality – TARGETED-MPI project ................................................................................... 56
4. Gender in research ....................................................................................................................... 56
3
, 4.1. Gender equality in the scientific literature ............................................................................ 56
4.2. Gender differences in career development ........................................................................... 57
5. Affirmative actions to target Gender Equality .............................................................................. 59
Gender equality in the scientific literature – affirmative actions ................................................. 59
Module 4: technology and changing work and employment conditions.............................................. 60
Work and technological change ....................................................................................................... 61
The ‘factor’ technology ................................................................................................................ 61
Smart automation ........................................................................................................................ 62
Technology and labour: Autor’s matrix ........................................................................................ 64
The ‘factor’ technology ................................................................................................................ 65
More to come? ............................................................................................................................. 65
Technology and the end of work ...................................................................................................... 67
A new era of ‘smart’ technology? ................................................................................................. 67
…or an old debate ........................................................................................................................ 68
Technology and economic development ...................................................................................... 68
Utopian: ‘right to Idleness’? ......................................................................................................... 69
Utopian......................................................................................................................................... 69
Dystopian: Luddite struggle .......................................................................................................... 70
Dystopian ..................................................................................................................................... 70
Dystopian: the end of work? ........................................................................................................ 71
Realist (jobs versus tasks) ............................................................................................................. 71
Realist (complements of automation) .......................................................................................... 72
Realist (limits of technology) ........................................................................................................ 72
A global workforce crisis? ............................................................................................................. 72
Automation joblessness ............................................................................................................... 73
A global workforce crisis? ............................................................................................................. 74
New technologies and job polarisation ............................................................................................ 75
Technology and the labour market .............................................................................................. 75
Technology and work tasks .......................................................................................................... 76
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 76
Technology and work tasks .......................................................................................................... 76
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 77
Evolution productivity growth ...................................................................................................... 78
Evidence for upgrading ................................................................................................................. 78
New technologies and job quality .................................................................................................... 79
A dystopian world of work?.......................................................................................................... 79
4
Contents
Module 1: introduction .......................................................................................................................... 9
Conceptions of work and employment .............................................................................................. 9
What is work? .................................................................................................................................... 9
What is work?................................................................................................................................. 9
The value of work ......................................................................................................................... 10
Types of work ............................................................................................................................... 10
Labour, work, leisure, … ............................................................................................................... 11
The broader impact of work and production ............................................................................... 11
Impact on geographical spaces .................................................................................................... 11
Work as a social construct ............................................................................................................ 11
The ‘3 arenas’ of the world of work ................................................................................................. 12
Arena 1: Work organisation ............................................................................................................. 12
Arena 2: Labour market ................................................................................................................ 13
Arena 3: Industrial relations ......................................................................................................... 13
Industrial relations: EU-level actors.................................................................................................. 14
The world of work and Job Quality ................................................................................................... 14
Micro level: jobs and their ‘quality’ .................................................................................................. 15
Sociological traditions and the sociology of work ............................................................................ 15
The foundations of labour sociology ............................................................................................ 15
Scientific management (Taylorism) .............................................................................................. 16
Founding fathers I: Karl Marx ....................................................................................................... 16
De-skilling: labour process theory ................................................................................................ 17
Founding fathers II: Max Weber ................................................................................................... 17
Re/Up-skilling: Post-industrial society .......................................................................................... 17
Founding fathers III: Emile Durkheim ........................................................................................... 18
Work as a social system ................................................................................................................ 18
Founding fathers IV: Interactionism ............................................................................................. 19
Critiques and ‘new topics’ ............................................................................................................ 19
Discipline and control in the new workplace ................................................................................ 20
Sociological perspectives: Summary................................................................................................. 21
Module 2: Job quality in the contemporary workplace ........................................................................ 21
Job quality: introduction .................................................................................................................. 21
1
, Labour: a peculiar kind of medicine .............................................................................................. 21
Work and health inequalities ....................................................................................................... 22
Work to live or live to work? ........................................................................................................ 22
Theoretical underpinnings of the job quality-concept ..................................................................... 23
The roots of job quality ................................................................................................................ 23
Theoretical underpinnings of Job Quality ..................................................................................... 23
Theoretical underpinnings of Job Quality ..................................................................................... 24
The roots of Job Quality ............................................................................................................... 26
A definition of Job Quality ............................................................................................................ 27
Conceptualising Job Quality ............................................................................................................. 27
A family of concepts ..................................................................................................................... 27
Indicators of Job Quality ............................................................................................................... 27
The 4 A’s – a holistic approach towards JQ .................................................................................. 28
A summary approach towards JQ ................................................................................................. 28
Job quality and consequences ...................................................................................................... 29
Empirically measuring job quality .................................................................................................... 29
Measuring job quality ................................................................................................................... 29
Empirical approaches (and examples) .......................................................................................... 30
Empirically measuring job quality – dimensional approaches .......................................................... 30
Dimensional approaches: EUROFOUND’s job quality index ......................................................... 30
Socio-economic variation ............................................................................................................. 30
Variation in JQ in the EU ............................................................................................................... 31
Dimensional approaches: ETUI job quality index.......................................................................... 32
Variation in job quality ................................................................................................................. 33
Evolutions in job quality ............................................................................................................... 33
Theory based models: Demand-Control-(Support) ...................................................................... 34
Variation in JQ in the EU ............................................................................................................... 34
Effort-Reward-Imbalance ............................................................................................................. 34
Typological approaches ................................................................................................................ 35
Typological: Job quality typology.................................................................................................. 36
Causes of variation and trends in job quality ................................................................................... 37
Variation in job quality ................................................................................................................. 37
Trends in job quality ..................................................................................................................... 39
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 39
Module 3 – the story of industrialisation and de-industrialisation ...................................................... 40
The great transformation ................................................................................................................. 40
2
, Modernity, Capitalism & Industrialisation .................................................................................... 41
Industrial capitalism, a twofold term… ......................................................................................... 41
The meaning of work in industrial capitalism ............................................................................... 42
The industrial system ................................................................................................................... 42
Phases in the development of industrial capitalism (part I) ............................................................. 44
Phases of industrial capitalism: schematic ................................................................................... 44
Modes of collaboration ................................................................................................................ 44
The growth and decline of Fordism (part II) ..................................................................................... 45
Fordism......................................................................................................................................... 45
Fordism – As a mode of regulation ............................................................................................... 46
‘Fordisms’ – unity in plurality ....................................................................................................... 47
The crisis of Fordism ..................................................................................................................... 48
A production model in crisis ......................................................................................................... 48
An accumulation model in crisis ................................................................................................... 48
Intermezzo: The hidden injuries of de-industrialisation ................................................................... 49
De-industrialisation ...................................................................................................................... 49
‘After Fordism’: making sense of advanced capitalism..................................................................... 49
Major themes ............................................................................................................................... 49
Post-Fordism and the regulation school ....................................................................................... 50
New productive paradigms .......................................................................................................... 50
Renewed internationalisation – Globalisation.............................................................................. 51
De-globalisation? .......................................................................................................................... 52
Neo-liberalism .............................................................................................................................. 53
Guest lecture Gender Equality, Evie Rangelova.................................................................................... 53
Lecture plan...................................................................................................................................... 53
1. Overview of Gender equality (GE) in terms of statistics and in scientific literature ..................... 53
Overview of gender equality, statistics – Global Gender Gap Index, 2021 ................................... 53
2. Why is gender equality important to everybody? ........................................................................ 54
Gender equality affects everyone – the importance of diversity and equality for the overall
organizational well-being ............................................................................................................. 54
3. Gender equality and academia – the case of VUB ........................................................................ 55
Overview of gender equality, statistics – academia ..................................................................... 55
Gender equality in the scientific literature – academia ................................................................ 55
Gender equality – the case of VUB ............................................................................................... 55
Gender equality – TARGETED-MPI project ................................................................................... 56
4. Gender in research ....................................................................................................................... 56
3
, 4.1. Gender equality in the scientific literature ............................................................................ 56
4.2. Gender differences in career development ........................................................................... 57
5. Affirmative actions to target Gender Equality .............................................................................. 59
Gender equality in the scientific literature – affirmative actions ................................................. 59
Module 4: technology and changing work and employment conditions.............................................. 60
Work and technological change ....................................................................................................... 61
The ‘factor’ technology ................................................................................................................ 61
Smart automation ........................................................................................................................ 62
Technology and labour: Autor’s matrix ........................................................................................ 64
The ‘factor’ technology ................................................................................................................ 65
More to come? ............................................................................................................................. 65
Technology and the end of work ...................................................................................................... 67
A new era of ‘smart’ technology? ................................................................................................. 67
…or an old debate ........................................................................................................................ 68
Technology and economic development ...................................................................................... 68
Utopian: ‘right to Idleness’? ......................................................................................................... 69
Utopian......................................................................................................................................... 69
Dystopian: Luddite struggle .......................................................................................................... 70
Dystopian ..................................................................................................................................... 70
Dystopian: the end of work? ........................................................................................................ 71
Realist (jobs versus tasks) ............................................................................................................. 71
Realist (complements of automation) .......................................................................................... 72
Realist (limits of technology) ........................................................................................................ 72
A global workforce crisis? ............................................................................................................. 72
Automation joblessness ............................................................................................................... 73
A global workforce crisis? ............................................................................................................. 74
New technologies and job polarisation ............................................................................................ 75
Technology and the labour market .............................................................................................. 75
Technology and work tasks .......................................................................................................... 76
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 76
Technology and work tasks .......................................................................................................... 76
Polarisation .................................................................................................................................. 77
Evolution productivity growth ...................................................................................................... 78
Evidence for upgrading ................................................................................................................. 78
New technologies and job quality .................................................................................................... 79
A dystopian world of work?.......................................................................................................... 79
4
