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105 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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THREE SPHERES OF SOCIAL LIFE |
1. The Economy: the sphere in which we produce and buy things 2. The State: the sphere in which we govern our collective affairs 3. Civil Society: the sphere in which we voluntarily form associations to pursue common purposes |
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Economic power |
– leveling the economic playing field |
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Economic power Individuals |
Individually = workers are much less powerful than employers à they need a job more than the employer needs them •Collectively, workers can create a level playing field for negotiating with employers à they can threaten the employer with loss of profits |
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Economic power Collectively |
Collectively = workers can create a levelplaying field for negotiating with employers à theycan threaten the employer with loss of profits |
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Political power |
–providing a counterbalance to the political power of business |
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Political power: Organic Solidarities: |
Unions help build solidarities among people in the workplace and get people involved in collective decisions. |
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Political Power: Organizational capacity: |
Unions help build a bridge between individuals and electoral politics. |
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Unions Build Organizational Capacity By (4) first reason:
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Making political discourse a part of everyday life and helping to overcome the free-rider problem of democratic participation |
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second reason: |
Makingit easier for people to work in campaignsand thus counteracting therole of money in elections (remember, spending money iseasy for rich but investing time is costly for the average citizen) |
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third reason: |
Providing training grounds and experience for future working-class leaders |
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fourth reason: |
Developing possible working-class candidates to challenge the standard pro-business candidates |
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Unions mainly affect politics by: |
providing feet on the ground in elections because they cannot compete with the money that the rich and corporations spend on elections. |
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The concept of “civil society” is derived from: |
our freedom of association, which along with freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, is part of the first amendment of the Constitution. |
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freedom of association is: |
the right to join or leave groups of a person’s own choosing, and for the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members. |
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Civil society |
– broadening and deepening democracy and the freedom of association in modern society |
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Civil society examples: |
Churches Civic associations Political parties Sports clubs Hobby clubs Fraternities and sororities Unions |
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Unions are a special type of civilsociety organization because |
they are embedded in the workplace and comprised almost exclusively of regular working people that otherwise hold little power in society they are “class-based” organizations |
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The Decline of “Civil Society” |
Like almost all voluntary associations and organizations in civil society, participation in unions has been declining for decades The private sector unionization rate was: 1950's = 35% Today = 6%. |
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The hostility between employers andunions is rooted in a fundamental conflict of values: (2) |
(1) Freedom of association (2) Freedom of voluntary exchange in the market |
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Consequences for Workers of Decline of Unions |
•Declineof middle class jobs with good pay and benefits •Declineof job security •Increased competition with fellow workers and a “race to the bottom” in wages: consistent with low-road capitalism •Increasingly authoritarian workplace relations and favoritism by managers •Increased use of “exit” and decreased use of “voice” in the labor market •Increasedoverall income inequality in society •Decreased influence in the local, state, and federal political process |
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The first three quarters of the 20th century were dominated by Fordism |
The form of work organization popularizedby Henry Ford This form of work organization was especially useful for organizing most types of factory work and routineclerical and white collar work |
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Characteristics of Fordism: (4) |
1. Close supervision 2. Task segmentation 3. Automation 4. Bureaucratic constraint |
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The overarching goals of Fordism were: (3) |
1. Effective labor control 2. Reducing costs of production 3. Increasing profitability |
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Fordism had two major consequences forworkers: (2) |
1. Deskilling of workers, loss of worker power 2. Increase in alienation—boring, non-challenging work |
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Four principles of scientific management (Taylor): (4) |
1. Amass working knowledge traditionally possessedbyworkers 2. Reduce those tasks to a set of discrete tasks described in written procedures 3. Scientifically select workers and train them use appropriate methods 4. Removedecision-makingcomponents, includingplanningand coordination functions,from control of manual workers separationofconception and execution |
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Fordism adopted ____ but ____ _____ of these principles |
most, but not all, of these principles of scientific management |
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The last quarter-century brought many challenges to Fordism: |
-Global competition challenged the inefficiencies of Fordism -1970s witnessed the oil crisis, rising inflation and unemployment -Deindustrialization created major losses in America’s industrial base |
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The Fordist Era –1900-1975 characterized by tight coupling of jobs |
the sequencing, interdependency and integration of specific jobs was tightly interlocked (e.g., assembly line work) |
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The Post-Fordist Era: 1975-present characterized by flexible work arrangements and loose coupling of jobs |
the sequencing, interdependency and integration of specific jobs is NOT tightly interlocked (e.g., working in team-based projects) |
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Three Forms of Flexibility Sought by Employers (3 flexibilities) |
1. wage flexibility: adjusting wages to meet labor market conditions) 2. employment flexibility: altering the number of workers or number of hours as needed 3. functional flexibility: varying the work tasks performed by individual workers in response to production needs |
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This led to the rise of flexible work arrangements (3) (particularly in technical and professional jobs, but also in manufacturing) |
1. Employee involvement programs 2. Project-based work teams 3. Lateral, rather than hierarchical, forms of communication and control Example in manufacturing: Cummins Engine |
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Crowley et al. argue that the newflexibility represents the rise of neo-Taylorism |
the rise of new expressions of scientific management in both manual and professional/managerial work |
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Service: |
When people are paid for performing activities for others: as distinguished from jobs in which people manufacture goods or products as in manufacturing |
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service occupations |
-occupations that are mainly involved in delivering a service |
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service industries |
-industries devoted primarily to providing services… |
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goods producing sector: |
agriculture, forestry, and fishing; mining; construction, and manufacturing |
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service sector: |
finance, insurance and real estate; wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and public utilities; and services |
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Examples of Services |
•Haircuts •Funeral services •Business services •Dog grooming services •Photocopying services •Launderers |
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Time-boundedness |
– the production and consumption of services is almost simultaneous: services cannot be stockpiled à there are culturally approved times when the services are provided |
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Low productivity |
– in general, worker productivity in services is low compared to manufacturing à that is, the marginal return to the business per unit of work is low (But productivity is variableacrossdifferentservices, andmay be enhanced by enhanced by technology) |
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Low productivity generally leads to |
low wages (other reasons for low wages in service work: low unionization, smaller firms, seasonal, part-time work) |
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Insatiable demand |
– demand for services is ongoing; that is, many services are purchased on an ongoing basis rather than just once (Also,the variety and volume of services continues to expand, leading to growth inthe service sector) |
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post-industrial society |
is a society whose economic foundation would be built on services and knowledge, instead of manufacturing |
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Many services are spatially bounded |
– that is, the service producer and service customer must come together in the same physical space to deliver the service à e.g., haircuts |
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spatially bounded historically vs. contemporary |
This has historically limited the possibility of service jobs being outsourced to other locations However, increasingly technology allows for some services to be rendered regardless of spatial constraints àonline consultation about computer repairs |
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Working in service sectors involve three actors: |
1) managers 2) workers 3) service recipients (or customers) |
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As a result, most service work takes onthe character of a social encounter |
-a social interaction between the service provider and the service recipient |
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Thus sociologists sometimes refer to thistype of work as interactional service work |
The customer’s satisfaction and willingness to return as a customer is highly contingent on the quality of the service rendered |
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From the customer’s standpoint, “quality” may be judged on two dimensions: |
1)The quality of the actual service (how good my haircut looks) 2) The quality of the interaction with the service provider (how enjoyable the interaction is between the customer and hair stylist) |
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Managers of services often seek tooptimizequality through routinization of service work |
-structuring the interaction in a way that assures a high and consistent quality of service by requiring service workers to follow uniform procedures in the interaction |
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Routinization can be reflected in: |
•Style of dress (uniforms, formal attire) •Manner of speaking (what to say and how to say it) •Body language •Emotional demeanor |
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Routinization Has Two Primary Functions in Service Work: |
1) It reduces the cost of labor 2) It provides a uniform product In these respects, routinization is verysimilar to the deskilling of manufacturing labor during the period ofhomogenization and technical control |
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Routinization may take place through: (4) |
1) Type-casting customers: Best Buy and other retail stores 2) Development of repertoires and scripts for handling routine interactions and transactions 3) Useof computer algorithms: certain types of online or telephone service repairs 4) Automation: the most routine service work can be automated to the point of reducing or eliminating much human labor(ATMs in banks and scanners in grocery checkout lines)● |
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Why Are Managers Motivated to Routinize Service Work? |
1) When the quality of the interaction is crucial the success of the enterprise 2) If workers are unwilling or unable toconduct the interaction appropriately on their own: if leaving the interaction to the discretion of the worker is too risky or expensive 3) Ifthe service interaction is easily standardized: “high-end” service work may betoo complex or context-dependent to be standardized sofirms must use more expensive workers “front of the house workers” in Luxury hotels |
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What Are Obstacles to Routinization? |
1) When markets are unstable or unpredictable 2) Unstable product specifications: customized service is difficult to routinize 3) Unstable technologies 4) Inauthenticity: As service interactions become more routinized, they may seem more “fake” |
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Strategies for balancing standardization and authenticity: |
1) reducing unpredictability in customers: setting parameters on the behavior of customers -getting them to behave in a manner that does not interfere with routines (pre specification) 2) personalizing the routines à infusing the interaction with some semblance of authenticity (cheerful friendliness) (personal touches) 3) routinization by transformation of character: Complete transformation of workers’ characters, personalities, and habits of thought so that they would make the decisions the organization would |
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Emotion work |
– work of creating emotional states in others often by manipulating one’s own feelings |
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Emotion work typically involves |
“deep acting” on the part of service workers and some expectation of reciprocity by the service-recipient in “playing their role” Service workers must take on a newpersona at work and leave their everyday persona at the door |
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Problems with Routinization of Service Work |
1) Emotion work is stressful: managing one’s own emotions and the emotions of customers to facilitate delivery of the service 2) Losing it: workers “lose it” because customers do not fulfill their role expectations: by being indifferent, hostile, or demeaning to service workers 3) Burnout: chronic stress that builds up because interactions are too frequent, too repetitive, or too upsetting: burnout impacts turnover which impacts the productivity of the organization 4) Automation: Service jobs are constantly being automated out of existence 5) Workerresistance: Manyworkers regard routinization as an affront to their dignity àand seek to resist it, sabotage it, or undermine it |
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On the other hand: Workers are morelikely to “buy into” routinization if it enhances the quality of the social interaction and/or augments their rewards from work: (3) |
1) Status 2) Feelings of competence 3) Income |
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Investigating Perceived Immigrant Job Threat (PIJT) Prejudice against immigrants canoccur in several areas: |
1) Housing 2) Education 3) Access to health care 4) Access to social services 5) Access to legal services 6) Jobs |
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Three Traditional Theories of Perceived Immigrant Job Threat |
1. Group Threat Theory 2. Contact Theory 3. Cultural Theory |
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Group Threat Theory (Blumer 1958) |
– prejudice stems from the perceived threat of the minority group to the privileged position of the majority group |
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According to Group Threat Theory: prejudice emerges from four sentiments of the majority group: |
1) Feelings of superiority 2) Feelings that the subordinate group is innately different and alien 3) Feelings of entitlement to certain privileges and advantages 4) Suspicion that subordinate group wishes to challenge the prerogatives of the dominant group |
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Two Corollaries of Group Threat Theory: |
1) The rapid immigrant influx corollary: The level of PIJT is positively related to rapid influxes of immigrants into new areas. 2) The competitive subordinate group corollary: The level of PIJT is positively related to the size of another minority group who competes with immigrants for scarce resources (i.e., blacks). |
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Contact Theory (Allport1954) |
– PIJT is due to irrational stereotypes based on limited information about immigrants: as majority members’ contact with immigrants increases, misunderstanding breaks down and PIJT declines |
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Simple hypothesis from contact theory: |
The level of PIJT is negatively related to the size of the minority group presence |
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Cultural Theory (Haubert& Fussell,2006) |
– PIJT is due to various cultural orientations or world views that are acquired through socialization – persons with more cosmopolitan views are less likely to express PIJT |
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Simple hypothesis from culturaltheory: |
The level of PIJT is negatively related to percentage of citizens with a college degree. |
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Three New Perspectives on PerceivedImmigrant Job Threat |
1. Economic competition 2. Labor market deregulation 3. Globalization |
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1. Economic competition |
– refers to processes which might exacerbate or alleviate the competition between immigrants and the majority group for economic resources like jobs and housing |
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Economiccompetition variables: |
GSP per capita (-) Economic growth (-) Unemployment (+) Poverty (+) % change in earnings (-) Income inequality (+) |
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2. Labor Market Deregulation |
– refers to effects of weakened labor market institutionsà declining strength of unions and the legal environment regulating the labor market |
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LaborMarket Deregulation variables: |
Union density (-) Change in union density (-) Unfair labor practices (+) Union de-authorization (+) Right-to-work state (+) State minimum wage (-) |
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3. Globalization |
– refers to the role of transnational flows of investment and the related restructuring of the U.S. economy in raising or lowering AIP |
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Globalization variables: |
Global capital (+) Exports/GSP (-) Foreign direct investment (+) Deindustrialization (+) Corporate restructuring (+) |
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Three MajorWorkplace Trends |
1. Occupational polarization 2. Changes in the employmentrelationship 3. Participatory managementmovement |
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Occupational polarization |
- trend in past several decades to generate more jobs at the top of the occupational distribution, more jobs at the bottom, and a hollowing out of the middle |
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Occupational polarization - continued |
In general: -decline in manualoccupations -increase in intellectualoccupations -increase in jobs that workwith symbolic objects -computer programs -microchip designs -financial models -human genome |
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But also someimportant counter-trends: |
-Some manual jobs heldsteady or increased -Many white collar jobsdeclined -Service jobs have grown thefastest, but service -jobs are also polarized -Some require higherintellectual and interactive skill sets -Many other requirelower levels of skill, highly routinized |
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Richard Floridanotes the rise of the creative class: |
a group of knowledgeworkers with analytic and creative skills that are the driving force of the economy - designers - writers - artists - scientists The creative class hasbeen very important in in rejuvenating many regional economies à e.g., SiliconValley |
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Movement toward an “hourglass economy” |
shrinking middle class in relative or absolute terms |
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Changes in the Employment Relationship |
movement away from standard employmentrelationship to nonstandard employment relationship |
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Standard employment relationship |
with stable, enduring relationship between employer and employee with good pay and benefits |
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Nonstandard employment relationship |
characterized by the absence of a stable tie with a single employer, reduced pay and benefits, and precarious and insecure employment |
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Internalization ofrisk and uncertainty |
In decades following WWII, employers sought to internalize activities that had previously been coordinated through the market |
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Internal labormarkets |
Structured sequencing of jobs to facilitate promotion from within: -Reduced uncertainty of hiring for employers -Increased career development for employees |
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Externalization of risk and uncertainty |
starting in mid-1970s, firms began to externalize those costs of production which were least profitable |
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Outsourcing |
leaving certain operations to outside firms who competed to provide goods and products at cheapest cost (e.g., General Motors) This process “outsourced”certain unionized labor activities to smaller, non-unionized firms, thuslowering labor costs |
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Core |
the most valued and skilled employees whom the firm wants to retain; still involved in standard employment relationships with good pay and benefits |
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Periphery |
a stratum of contingent workers who are hired on a temporary basis when needed and laid off when business falls off; non-standard employment relationships with poor pay and no benefits |
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core and periphery cont. |
Contingent employment has the effectof shifting the risk and uncertainty of the market from employers to employees In many firms, coreand periphery workers work side-by-side doing many of the same jobs |
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multiple job-holding |
more people are holding 2-3 jobs in order to make a livable wage à but generally such workers do not have employer-paid health or pension benefits |
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Bad Jobs |
Jobs with at least one of these three characteristics: -Low pay -No employer-paid health insurance -No employer-paid pension plan |
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Gig Economy |
more workers are working in “gigs” à short-term contracts in one or more specialized jobs Some people work in gigs while continuing to work in other standard or non-standard jobs as a hedge against the job insecurity and earnings loss of those jobs |
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The Internet hasfacilitated the rise of the gig economy: (3 companies) |
1. Angie’s List – a list of personsavailable to do a variety of specialized jobs 2. Uber and Lyft – people who use theircars to provide taxi services 3. Air B&B – people who rent out spacein their homes on a short-term basis All of theserepresent the formalization of the gig economy – short-term contract employmentà a form of non-standardemployment |
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Participatory management movement |
various programs designed to elicit input from front-line workers into management decisions Quality circles (Japan, 1980s) Employee involvement Work teams job redesign/job rotation AKA: lean productionsystems or high performancesystems |
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Characteristics ofLean Production 1. Delayering of organizations |
-dramatic reductions inbureaucratic levels in the firm, particularly in management |
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Characteristics of Lean Production 2. Eliciting highlevels of commitment from all employees |
-removal or barriers between workers and management: “associates” |
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Characteristics of Lean Production 3. Using the practice of kaizen |
-team-based processes for sharing ideas and innovations at the point of production |
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Characteristics of Lean Production 4. Just-in-time delivery systems |
-collaborative approaches with suppliers to eliminate large on-site inventories |
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Collinson (2003)identified three types of worker responses to these team systems: Deferential |
conforming tofirm’s demands à working harder and longerto distinguish themselves with management |
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Collinson (2003) identified three types of worker responses to these team systems: 2. Resistant |
-viewing these systems with suspicion and distrust and actively resisting their implementation |
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Collinson (2003) identified three types of worker responses to these team systems: 3. Dramaturgical |
-“playing along” with management to curry favor but failing to internalize the management ethos |
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Routinization may take place through: |
1) Type-casting:customers (Best Buy and other retail stores) 2) Developmentof repertoiresand scriptsfor handling routine interactions and transactions 3) Useof computeralgorithms: certain types of online or telephone service repairs 4) Automation: the most routine service work can be automated to the point of reducing or eliminating much human labor (ATMs in banks and scanners in grocery checkout lines)● |
