Work, Economy & Organizations books

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.

This volume of Research in the Sociology of Work starts with a deceptively simple question of, "Do events and experiences during adolescence influence the work outcomes of individuals when they reach adulthood?" While at first glance simple, the question has a wide range of theoretical and practical implications, which are covered in a compelling set of contributions. The volume contains new and exploratory research related to this fundamental question and highlights the opportunities for further research on the topic.

Advances in Group Processes publishes theoretical analyses, reviews, and theory based empirical chapters on group phenomena. The series adopts a broad conception of "group processes." This includes work on groups ranging from the very small to the very large, and on classic and contemporary topics such as status, power, exchange, justice, influence, decision-making, intergroup relations and social networks. Previous contributors have included scholars from diverse fields including sociology, psychology, political science, philosophy, computer science, mathematics and organizational behaviour. This volume contains papers presented at the 25th anniversary of the Annual Group Processes Conference.

"Advances in Group Processes publishes theoretical analyses, reviews, and theory based empirical chapters on group phenomena. The series adopts a broad conception of “group processes.” This includes work on groups ranging from the very small to the very large, and on classic and contemporary topics such as status, power, trust, justice, social influence, identity, decision-making, intergroup relations and social networks. Previous contributors have included scholars from diverse fields including sociology, psychology, political science, economics, business, philosophy, computer science, mathematics and organizational behavior. Volume 33 brings together papers related to a variety of topics in small groups and organizational research. The volume includes papers that address theoretical and empirical issues related to balance theory, generalized exchange, identity contests and corporate social responsibility. Other contributions examine minority influence, status and identity processes, gender stereotypes and voice pitch as a measure of stress. Overall, the volume includes papers that reflect a wide range of theoretical approaches from leading scholars who work in the general area of group processes."

The convergence of Algorithms, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency has the potential to fundamentally disrupt the current world of work. This book investigates the effects of this on the worker, the organisation and the economy, by considering a future where the traditional power relationships between workers and firms no longer apply.  Using the term “Bitwork” to define this future world of work, the book proposes the idea of the Bitworker who is highly flexible, holds multiple roles, and has multiple incomes. Chapters consider the potential winners and losers of this technological pivot by exploring implications such as:  the expanding array of currencies;  training and education;  retirement and loyalty;  profit and power within organizations;  economic policy.  The book’s comprehensive recommendations on how workers, organisations and nation states will need to adapt to prosper in this new world, provide a useful survival guide for researchers, practitioners and policy makers working on behavioural economics, economic policy and the future of work.

Research in the Sociology of Work (RSW) is a twice yearly publication that examines current issues related to the sociology of work. The series provides a comprehensive collection of research focused on the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of work and labour. This volume includes contributions which discuss: work and identity, including the experiences of actors and teachers; authority and control at work, including insights from the hospitality and publishing industries; and issues of gender and sexuality in the workplace, including insights on sexual harassment in the workplace.

This volume consists of three sections connected by the elucidation of differences in perspective between people and polities. The first, concentrating on ecology, serves in part to further explore the theme of climate change. It looks into aquifer usage and ecology in the Midwestern United States, farming and climate shifts in Costa Rica and in Burkina Faso, and goat herding and conservation issues in the Himalayas. The second section focuses on exchange transactions and relations in a variety of situations and settings: among Nigerian immigrant business owners in New York City, along the path of the famous Koh-i-noor Diamond from India to the Tower of London, and between dealers and buyers in illegal narcotics markets in the Eastern, Midwestern, and Pacific Northwestern USA. Finally, papers in the third section share a concern with individual and group adaptations to certain conditions of life. Offered are investigations into relations between stock brokers and professional investors in Malaysia, attempts to foster innovation in Western Japan, women’s farming strategies and autonomy in Western Kenya, and alternative healing decisions and practices in Brazil.

This volume will focus on innovative research that examines how the nature of paid work intersects with family and personal life today. Although some workers have more stability than others, rising income inequality, the continued rise of nonstandard work, further erosion of unions, technological advancements that encourage permeable boundaries between work and home, and the pressures of a global 24/7 economy generate an aura of insecurity for all. Some workers are working long hours but have some control over when, where and how they work; many others are poorly compensated and struggle with underemployment, have little say over their schedules, lack adequate benefits, and must cobble together several jobs and/or rely heavily on kinship networks to make ends meet. These changes suggest the need for nuanced analyses that are sensitive to class variation in work conditions and to diverse family formations. Research that addresses how current work conditions are experienced in different life course stages and in different policy contexts is also needed to fully understand the work-family interface.