Work and Society : A Reader

This book provides a lively and accessible introduction to key new areas in the contemporary study of work. While traditional accounts of work have tended to focus upon male manual workers in factories, recent developments have shifted the notions of what counts as work, what work is, and where it takes place. This topical book takes up these developments, broadening our understanding of work. Complementing the second edition of Grint's successful Sociology of Work textbook, this book is divided into five parts, each of which explores recent developments in the theory and practice of work. The wide range of substantive areas covered includes domestic work, globalization, gender, resistance, child labour and labour relations. The theoretical approaches incorporate theories of technology, time, identity, change and discipline. The authors include some of the leading international writers in their fields today, such as Stephen Barley, John Hassard, Bruno Latour and Judy Wajcman, plus some of the rising stars of the future. Each part has an introduction by the editor which contextualizes the selections, and there is a general introduction to help students navigate the text. Work and Society: A Reader will be essential reading for anyone taking courses in the sociology of work, organizational behaviour, business studies, studying MBAs or wishing to understand the contemporary world of work.

Keith Grint is Reader in Organizational Behaviour at the Said Business School, Oxford and a Fellow of Templeton College.