PollEverywhere http://www.PollEv.com/andrewperrin SOCI 101.002 - - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 1 / 22

Work, Family, and Inequality

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin October 7, 2014

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 2 / 22

Work in America

Work and occupation are central to survival Class, family, culture surround work Strong moral valence to discussions about work

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 3 / 22

Big Questions in the Sociology of Work

Why don’t workers work harder? Why do workers work as hard as they do? How do history, social structure, and technology shape the nature of work? How does workplace organization change workers and companies? How does work interact with non-work activities (family, recreation, education, third sector)?

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 4 / 22

Why don’t workers work harder?

Early industrial sociology (“plant sociology”) Associated with Clark Kerr: Industrialism and Industrial Man, 1960 Central problem: how to make factories operate efficiently. What organizing principles encourage workers to slack off? What can companies do to control workers’ time better?

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 5 / 22

Why do workers work as hard as they do?

Michael Burawoy, Manufacturing Consent, 1979 “Marxist sociology”: if we assume efficiency is not in workers’ interest, why do workers work efficiently? Introduces concept of consent: inducing not just compliance but belief What’s in the company’s interest a lot is in the worker’s interest a little bit (“making out”) Introduced the idea of workplace culture

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 6 / 22

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SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 7 / 22

Who does what kind of work?

Racial inequalities Economic migration Gender, comparable worth, and pay Education inflation

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 8 / 22

How do history, social structure, and technology shape the nature of work?

Biernacki, The Fabrication of Labor, 1995 British and German cultures (ideas about exchange and productivity) shape differences in 17th-century textile factories Recent work on Japanese work processes in the U.S.: when do “foreign” work processes work and not work? Toyota, Subaru-Isuzu, NUMMI, Saturn High technology, globalization, and work patterns:

“High” vs “low” road “Thinking for a living” High-performance work

• rganizations

Globalization

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 9 / 22

How does workplace organization change workers and companies?

Workplace ethnographies Earlier, cultures determined workplaces; now, how do workplaces determine cultures (beliefs, skills, styles, habits)? Back to Burawoy (sort of) Hochschild, The Managed Heart Leidner, Fast Food, Fast Talk Worker/management flexibility and commitment

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 10 / 22

How does work interact with non-work activities (family, recreation, education, third sector)?

Hochschild, The Second Shift, 1989 Schor, The Overworked American, 1991 Hochschild, The Time Bind, 1997 Key observations:

Women’s entry to paid work Increasing work hours “Time squeeze” Family-friendly policies

Mobility, work hours, and voluntary activity

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 11 / 22

Trends in Gender and Work

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 12 / 22

Trends in Gender and Work

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 13 / 22

What is Inequality?

Also called “Social Stratification” Differences in status, power, prestige, or resources among individuals

• r groups in society

Different ways in which groups are constituted and assigned status

Class Race Sex Nation Education etc.

Relationships among these groups

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 14 / 22

Big Questions in the Sociology of Inequality

Why is there social inequality? What determines where people fall in the social structure? What are the consequences of placement in the social structure?

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 15 / 22

Fairness and the Stakes of Inequality

Much of this work is motivated by the question of fairness Are the rules of the game fair?

Is there a “level playing field”? To what extent is status a result of merit or work? (achieved status) To what extent is status a result of chance or birth? (ascribed status) Does the system result in one group consistently winning over the

• ther (iterative justice)?

Are the stakes reasonable?

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 16 / 22

Single- vs. Partner Families

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 17 / 22

Can Government Help?

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 18 / 22

Race- versus Class-based Policy

Race and poverty are very closely tied in the U.S. Many good studies suggest addressing racial disparity head-on William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears: poverty helps reproduce racial inequality; attack racial disparities by ameliorating economic inequality. Conley, Being Black, Living in the Red: racial disparity is based on, but more than, economic inequality; purely economic remedies won’t work. Pager, Marked: racial discrimination remains strong and common, particularly in low-wage labor markets.

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 19 / 22

Work, Gender, Inequality

Occupations and industries tend to be segregated by race and gender Educated mothers face guilt no matter what the decision “Second shift” seems to be diminishing but:

1

Not disappearing altogether; and

2

Some evidence of job segregation within families

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 20 / 22

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Sandberg, Lean In

SOCI 101.002 - Prof. Perrin Work, Family, and Inequality October 7, 2014 22 / 22