A Gedenkschrift To Randy Hodson

Randy Hodson was one of contemporary sociology's central figures in the study of work, occupations, and inequality. This volume pays tribute to his important scholarly contributions. Chapters by other important scholars in these fields reflect and build on his research in work conditions, worker resistance, and social stratification.

The seventh edition of Sociology, Work and Organisation is outstandingly effective in explaining how we can use the sociological imagination to understand the nature of institutions of work, organisations, occupations, management and employment and how they are changing in the twenty-first century. Intellectual and accessible, it is unrivalled in the breadth of its coverage and its authoritative overview of both traditional and emergent themes in the sociological study of work and organisation. The direction and implications of trends in technological change are fully considered and the book recognises the extent to which these trends are intimately related to changing patterns of inequality in modern societies and to the changing experiences of individuals and families. Key features of the text are: clear structure; ‘key issue’ guides and summaries with each chapter; identification of key concepts throughout the book; unrivalled glossary and concept guide; rich illustrative snapshots or ‘mini cases’ throughout the book. This text engages with cutting-edge debates and makes conceptual innovations without any sacrifice to clarity or accessibility of style. It will appeal to a wide audience, including undergraduates, postgraduates and academics working or studying in the area of work and the organisation of work, as well as practitioners working in the area of human resources and management generally.

Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women. Holding It Together chronicles the causes and dire consequences. America runs on women—women who are tasked with holding society together at the seams and fixing it when things fall apart. In this tour de force, acclaimed Sociologist Jessica Calarco lays bare the devastating consequences of our status quo. Holding It Together draws on five years of research in which Calarco surveyed over 4000 parents and conducted more than 400 hours of interviews with women who bear the brunt of our broken system. A widowed single mother struggles to patch together meager public benefits while working three jobs; an aunt is pushed into caring for her niece and nephew at age fifteen once their family is shattered by the opioid epidemic; a daughter becomes the backstop caregiver for her mother, her husband, and her child because of the perceived flexibility of her job; a well-to-do couple grapples with the moral dilemma of leaning on overworked, underpaid childcare providers to achieve their egalitarian ideals. Stories of grief and guilt abound. Yet, they are more than individual tragedies. Tracing present-day policies back to their roots, Calarco reveals a systematic agreement to dismantle our country’s social safety net and persuade citizens to accept precarity while women bear the brunt. She leads us to see women's labor as the reason we've gone so long without the support systems that our peer nations take for granted, and how women’s work maintains the illusion that we don't need a net. Weaving eye-opening original research with revelatory sociological narrative, Holding It Together is a bold call to demand the institutional change that each of us deserves, and a warning about the perils of living without it.

Misbehaviour at work has traditionally focused on work limitation, pilferage, absenteeism and sabotage. These remain important, but the organisational landscape is changing. From new forms of satirical humour and use of social media, workplace bullying and sexual misconduct, to managerial misbehaviour and its consequences, the second edition of Organisational Misbehaviour explores the latest forms of organisational subversion and offers fresh insights into the underlying dynamics of management and organisational processes. Drawing from contemporary research, this authoritative text is suitable for anyone interested in the study of management, work and organisations. Stephen Ackroyd is Emeritus Professor at the Management School of Lancaster University, UK. Paul Thompson is Emeritus Professor of Employment Studies at the University of Stirling, UK.

"This book examines how organizations' use of algorithms is reconfiguring our understanding of control for millions of high-skilled workers who use online labor market platforms (e.g., Upwork, TopCoder, Gigster) to find their work. The book investigates how algorithms enable platforms to control workers within an environment in which organizations embed the rules and guidelines for how workers should behave in opaque algorithms that shift without providing notice, explanation, or recourse for workers"--

The public believes that politicians in the US favor special interests over their constituents and that our political institutions have become corrupt—and they are right. A growing body of evidence shows that special interests have disproportionate sway over policy via campaign contributions and lobbying. In this book, the author presents this evidence in a logical, understandable way; he then illustrates how campaign contributions harm our economy, exacerbate inequality, and undermine our democracy. One of the most startling findings of the book is that campaign contributions led to the Financial Crisis and Great Recession. The author concludes that campaign contributions have effectively created an oligarchy in the US, and, thus, reform is needed to save our democracy. The final chapter of the book suggests a number of different reforms that could be pursued—and highlights some ways in which these reforms can be achieved.

Economic institutions are undergoing radical transformations, and with these has come a reconfiguration of labor market institutions, managerial conceptions of work, and the nature of authority and control over employees as well. This volume addresses a wide array of questions to better understand these dramatic changes.

This volume presents original theory and research on precarious work in various parts of the world, identifying its social, political and economic origins, its manifestations in the USA, Europe, Asia, and the Global South, and its consequences for personal and family life.