The Economy and Work PDF

CHAPTER 11 The Economy and Work Copyright © 2024 W. W. Norton & Company Chapter Outline World Economic Systems The Nature of Work Resistance Strategies: How Workers Cope The Conscience of Corporate America The Economics of Globalization Different Ways of Working 11....

CHAPTER 11 The Economy and Work Copyright © 2024 W. W. Norton & Company Chapter Outline World Economic Systems The Nature of Work Resistance Strategies: How Workers Cope The Conscience of Corporate America The Economics of Globalization Different Ways of Working 11.1 World Economic Systems Differentiate among the world economic systems of communism, socialism, and capitalism. Why Study the Economy and Work? An economy deals not only with money but also with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services within a society. Work is a major link between individuals (micro) and society (macro). Structural changes related to history, technology, and the economy are connected to, and shape, your life on the job. Capitalism Capitalism: an economic system based on the laws of free market competition, privatization of the means of production, and production for profit Capitalism encourages efficiency, new technologies, the expansion of markets, and cost cutting, which in turn tends to encourage class stratification and increase social inequality. The ideologies of the free market, private property, and profit-seeking motives that define capitalism also shape institutions other than the economy, including education, politics, and even healthcare. Socialism and Communism Socialism: an economic system based on the collective ownership of the means of production, collective distribution of goods and services, and government regulation Communism: a system of government that eliminates private property; it is the most extreme form of socialism, because all citizens work for the government and there are no class distinctions In socialist economies, health care, food, housing, and other basic needs are an entitlement of all people, not just for those who can afford them. The U.S. Economy Although the United States is largely capitalist, government agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board regulate the market. If the United States were purely capitalist, such institutions as education and health care would all be privately owned, but most schools and many universities are publicly owned and operated. These systems represent both a political ideology and economic reality for the people and workers in its economy. Nations typically have some features of both economic systems. 11.2 The Nature of Work Summarize how the Agricultural, Industrial, and Information Revolutions each changed the types of work available and our patterns of working. Early Economies in North America The earliest form of economy in North America might be in pre-sixteenth- century Native societies. Mobile hunting-and-gathering societies relocated for food and weather conditions and division of labor revolved around survival. Horticultural societies were based on the domestication of animals, farming, and generating a surplus of resources. Agricultural Revolution and Agricultural Work Today Agricultural Revolution: the social and economic changes, including population increases, that followed from the domestication of plants and animals and the gradually increasing efficiency of food production Today “agribusiness” includes farm labor, developing and selling farm equipment, food processing, marketing, and sales. The Industrial Revolution Industrial Revolution: the rapid transformation of social life resulting from the technological and economic developments that began with the assembly line, steam power, and urbanization Before the Industrial Revolution, the production of goods took place in the household or small craft shops. With the birth of the factory, wage labor replaced the household subsistence model, and vast numbers of people migrated to cities in search of work. Alienation The industrial economy increased stratification of the workforce along class, race, and gender lines. Alienation: the sense of dissatisfaction the modern worker feels as a result of producing goods that are owned and controlled by someone else The Information Revolution Information Revolution: the recent social revolution made possible by the development of the microchip in the 1970s, which brought about vast improvements in the ability to manage information The U.S. economy shifted from an economy based on the production of goods to one based on the production of knowledge and services. Postindustrial Work Today In a postindustrial economy, many workers do service work, which often involves direct contact with clients, customers, patients, or students. Other workers in the postindustrial economy are involved in knowledge work, which involves working with information. Manufacturing and agriculture are shrinking parts of the U.S. economy as many manufacturing jobs become automated or “offshored” to countries where labor is cheaper. Service Work Service Work: work that involves providing a service to businesses or individual clients, customers, or consumers rather than manufacturing goods While some service work pays well, many service jobs are unstable, part-time, low- paying, and without benefits. Some essential workers in low-paying, physically demanding service jobs were able to continue working during the pandemic, but this also put them at greater risk for exposure to Covid-19. Knowledge Work Knowledge Work: work that primarily deals with information; producing value in the economy through ideas, judgments, analyses, designs, or innovations Examples include advertising, engineering, and product development. The massive changes wrought by information technologies purport to increase productivity and save time, but the average worker is now working more hours in a week than their predecessor in the pre–Information Age workplace. Telecommuting: working from home while staying connected to the office through communications technology Time for a Vacation? On the Job: Internships: Free Menial Labor or a Leg Up? Internships may help students decide what to do after graduation and amass job experience that may make you a more attractive job candidate. However, student interns are sometimes overworked and often underpaid or unpaid. Black students and female students are less likely than their white and male counterparts to have had paid internships. Unpaid internships can be difficult or impossible to take on for students who need to make money to support themselves or their families. 11.3 Resistance Strategies: How Workers Cope Identify the different ways that individuals and groups exert control over the conditions of their labor. How Workers Cope Resistance Strategies: ways that workers express discontent with their jobs and try to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor Individual resistance may include personalizing a workspace or using work time to browse the internet. Collective resistance in the form of union organization, strikes, and walkouts seeks solutions to shared workplace problems. Worker resistance has played an important part in shaping the modern workplace, for example by ending child labor and establishing the five-day workweek. Individual Resistance: Handling Bureaucracy Workers often feel a lack of autonomy in highly bureaucratic organizations with various types of surveillance. As Americans began returning to regular work schedules after several years of pandemic disruption, workers asserted their power to resist unfavorable working conditions by refusing to return to in-person work, disengaging from work as a form of “quiet quitting,” and by leaving their jobs to find better, safer employment. Worker resistance helps us understand the interplay between structure and agency. Collective Resistance: Unions Workers sometimes organize collective resistance strategies to fundamentally change working conditions or terms of employment. Union: an association of workers who bargain collectively for wages and benefits for better working conditions During the coronavirus pandemic, workers in a variety of industries attempted to unionize to secure better safety measures, additional premium pay, paid sick leave, and more. In Relationships: The Value of Break Time Far from being a simple waste of time, breaks on the job serve an important social function and increase overall productivity. Play helps workers reclaim and assert their identity when the workplace seems otherwise devoid of positive meaning. 11.4 The Conscience of Corporate America Give examples of positive contributions by American corporations. Corporate Conscience Cases of corporate malfeasance have occurred throughout the history of capitalism and continue. More recently, some corporations have engaged in “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) initiatives. In the Future: Will Your Job Be “Uberized”? The “gig economy” refers to work that consists of a series of freelance jobs that may take advantage of individuals’ unique skill sets but that provide neither stability nor benefits. Gig work undercuts the conventional low-wage job market, making it harder for workers to get a paycheck. 11.5 The Economics of Globalization Define globalization and describe the key features of today’s global economy, including international trade, transnational corporations, sweatshop labor, and outsourcing. The Economics of Globalization Globalization: the cultural and economic changes resulting from dramatically increased international trade and exchange in the late twentieth and early twenty- first centuries Today, it is possible to view the world as having one global economy. International Trade Shallow integration and deep integration are terms used to explain economic globalization. An arrangement between a national company and a foreign company to either import or export products exclusively within that single nation’s economy is shallow integration. Now companies are often multinational, and the global flow of goods and services in this deep integration economy is much more complicated. Transnational Corporations Transnational Corporations (TNCs) intentionally transcend national borders so their products can be manufactured, distributed, marketed, and sold from bases across the globe. TNCs often have the economic weight of nations, which gives them tremendous influence in the global economy and trade law. TNCs can relocate their factories and outsource work, allowing them to take advantage of cheap labor pools, often hurting local populations in the process. Global Sweatshop Labor The search by companies for the cheapest way to produce goods often involves outsourcing or the use of sweatshops. Sweatshop: a workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including below-standard wages, long hours, and poor working conditions that may pose health or safety hazards The lies that sell fast fashion American companies use sweatshop labor both at home and overseas, particularly clothing manufacturers. Outsourcing Outsourcing: “contracting out” or transferring to another country the labor that a company might otherwise have employed its own staff to perform; typically done for financial reasons Manufacturing, clerical staff, finance, communication services, information technology, and some types of medical work are currently most susceptible to outsourcing. Global Perspective: Covid, PPE, and the Global Supply Chain The structural relationship between U.S. wholesale and retail markets, consumers, and Chinese factories became a significant problem during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the virus hit the heart of the world’s PPE manufacturing in central China. Many nations banned the export of PPE to meet their people’s needs. 11.6 Different Ways of Working Examine alternative ways of working. Professional Socialization in Unusual Fields Professional socialization is the process by which new workers learn and internalize the norms and values of their group in addition to details about how to do the job. For example, students preparing to become funeral directors learn “emotional labor” in addition to practical mortuary skills. The Contingent and Alternative Workforce Contingent and alternative workforce: those who work in positions that are temporary or freelance or who work as independent contractors The modern economy is characterized by more diverse and specialized jobs and more temporary workers (“temps”), “gig” workers, and freelancers. The conflict between classifying gig workers as employees or independent contractors has come to a head in the case of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. The Third Sector and Volunteerism Independent (or Third) Sector: the part of the economy composed of nonprofit organizations; their workers are mission driven, rather than profit driven, and such organizations direct surplus funds to the cause they support The Third Sector operates alongside government and business to strengthen those sectors, and it delivers vital services to millions of people. Although most nonprofits have some paid employees, they also rely on volunteers to deliver their services to the public. Discussion Question 2 What types of resistance strategies have you used to regain independence and power in your own workplace? What were the outcomes? Are these strategies forms of individual resistance or collective resistance? Discussion Question 3 While some corporations participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR), many still operate as bad actors. What examples have you heard of CSR initiatives? What examples have you heard of corporate malfeasance? Do any corporations overlap? How do you tell if a corporation follows through on its CSR promises? Discussion Question 4 The United States is a capitalist nation, but not everything operates according to strict free-market principles. What are some everyday things that are part of centrally funded and regulated services? How would these things be different if they were privately owned and who would be able to access them? Credits This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 11 of The Real World, Ninth Edition. For more resources, please visit https://digital.wwnorton.com/realworld9. Copyright © 2024 W. W. Norton & Company