Work and Employment SOCS101 Week 8 PDF

Work and Employment SOCS101 Week 8 Work and Employment: Readings Giddens and Sutton chapter 17 Work Definition: Carrying out tasks – both mental and physical – with the objective of producing goods and services to meet human needs Employment Remunerated work (see unemployment) AT2: Que...

Work and Employment SOCS101 Week 8 Work and Employment: Readings Giddens and Sutton chapter 17 Work Definition: Carrying out tasks – both mental and physical – with the objective of producing goods and services to meet human needs Employment Remunerated work (see unemployment) AT2: Question choice  Money: A wage is the main resource on which people depend Theorising work: to meet their needs. Without an income, day-to-day life is almost inconceivable. Characteristics Activity level: Work provides a basis for the acquisition and exercise of skills. Even where work is routine, it offers a structured environment in which a person’s energies may be absorbed. Variety: Work provides access to new contexts. In the working environment people may enjoy doing something different from Consider the six home chores. characteristics of work. Temporal structure: For people in regular employment, the Do we really need work to day is usually organized around the rhythms of work. Those who are out of work frequently complain of boredom and provide these things? apathy, and there were many anecdotal reports of people finding it difficult to fill their days during the forced absence What problems are from work due to the Covid-19 partial economic shutdown. experienced in relation to Social contacts: The work environment provides friendships these aspects by and opportunities to participate in shared activities and unemployed or retired involvement, including the activities of trade unions. Separated from work settings, a person’s circle of friends and people and those who just acquaintances is likely to dwindle. do not take paid work? Personal identity: Work is usually valued for the sense of stable social identity it offers. Self-esteem is often bound up with the economic contribution people make to the maintenance of their household. Theorising work: Domestic division of labour Read section 1; Oakley’s critique of domestic work, and respond to the following: 1. In your own or your family’s experience, which aspects have seen the most change – housework, childcare, paying bills/financial management or looking after sick relatives? Which aspects have been most resistant to change, and why should this be? 2. How can domestic labour be considered essential to the economy? Has domestic labour become more equally shared among opposite-sex couples? Theorising work: The social organisation of work Read section 2, and respond to the following: 1. What is Marx’s view on the social organisation of labour? What does he see as its outcomes? 2. What is Durkheim’s view on the social organisation of labour? What does he see as its outcomes? 3. How do you personally feel about these analysis? Do you agree with one or the other or both? Theorising work: Transforming the world Read sectionof work 3, and respond to the following: 1. Do you think we are seeing today, the integration of some new approaches into existing Fordist techniques – a new or ‘neo-Fordism’ rather than post-Fordism? If so, what are some examples? Is this good or bad, and for whom? 2. How are AI, robotics and digital technology changing the world of work? Will these developments upskill or deskill the workforce? Is this good or bad, and for whom? 3. As young people moving into the workforce/careers, How do you feel about the idea of ‘portfolio workers’, and homeworking? Do you think this represents the structure of your future work life? Is this good or bad, and for whom? 4. Consider the idea of ‘low trust’ and ‘high trust’ systems. How are they identifiable in these different forms of work? Next week: Have a good break!