January 11, 2014

SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND OCCUPATIONS

Soc 6252.10 Spring 2014 Sociology Dept. Conference Room, Phillips Hall #410 Tuesday, 6:10 8:00 p.m. Daniel Marschall, Professorial Lecturer in Sociology Mobile: 703-868-2946 Email: marschal@gwu.edu or marschad66@gmail.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Socwork Course Description Welcome to this new GWU graduate course, the Sociology of Work and Occupations. Work is a central dimension of our daily lives. What we do for work, and the meaning(s) that we find in our occupations and professions, not only affects our quality of life and our social status in society, but also structures our social contact with others and has a profound impact on how we construct our personal identities and our sense of self-worth. The individuals and groups with whom we work often form important segments of the communities in which we consider ourselves to be members. Studying the topics of work, the labor process, occupations, and professions is a prime route for understanding the texture and culture of contemporary life the way in which our individual lives unfold in the context of social interaction and changing societal institutions and norms. Learning about the sociology of work will help you navigate your career in a precarious economy that features continuous change in the skills required to secure a place in the Americas middle class. Overview and Goals Work practices and the ways jobs are performed in workplaces have undergone fundamental change since the 1970s. Millions of manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Though service jobs have multiplied, they often pay low wages and place workers in precarious, dead end working conditions. Temporary and part-time employment seems to have become the new normal, while stable, full-time jobs are more difficult to acquire. The spread of automation and digital communication technology (the Internet, social media, etc.) is reshaping the nature of jobs and organizational structures. Employers operate in a harshly competitive global environment; they respond by resisting the desires of workers to organize and act collectively to improve their lives and career prospects. At the same time, commentators extoll the virtues of entrepreneurship and technologists look to the maker movement as a third industrial revolution. All of these trends are having a dramatic impact on the labor market as millions of members of the Millennial Generation leave secondary and post-secondary schools to enter the working world. The primary goal of this course is to provide you and other graduate students with the knowledge and conceptual tools to comprehend how occupations and professions are evolving in a society shaped by a globalized labor market all to help you determine how your career and, presumably, your quest for fulfilling work and a decent job may be accomplished as the social relations of work remain fluid and social institutions undergo continuous change. Office Hours: Monday 5:30 6:00 or by appointment Sociology Dept. Room 409L

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Though Americans ordinarily think of work as an individual exercise of their unique talents and abilities, the labor that actually transpires in myriad places of work is a collective effort, organized by social relationships and structured by social institutions. This course will examine topics such as: the changing meaning of work for the Millennial Generation how the idea of immaterial labor sheds light on the nature of service work the rise of precarious work amid the collapse of the post-World War II social contract how digital communication technology is changing work practices the ethical challenges facing professional workers the role of occupational communities in promoting job satisfaction how gender and racial inequality in the workplace is expressed by the rhetoric of diversity how work structured as projects characterizes the contemporary workplace what public policies are necessary to meet the education and skill training needs of workers how unions are allying with community groups to craft new models of worker representation how the future of work is being transformed by robotics, an end of work ideology, and the (realistic?) ethic of entrepreneurialism.

The course takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing readings from sociology, anthropology of work, public policy, womens studies, social psychology, organization studies, industrial relations, career development, working class history, futurism, and analysis of current events. There is a substantial amount of reading in the course, approximately the equivalent of four academic journal articles per week. Each student will have a set of composition books and be required to formulate, for each reading, a question or brief comment that may serve as the basis for class discussion. The quality of these questions, oral participation in class, and engagement in online discussions will be counted as part of the final grade. Time spent together in class will focus on discussion and exchanges between students, guided by the analysis in the readings and our assessment of the authors interpretation of issues. The course will not have a traditional mid-term exam or final paper. Rather, students will be required to write three, short yellow papers on topics that relate directly to introspection about their career choices and honing practical skills (e.g. interviewing). Student Learning Objectives At the end of the course, students should be able to: (1) explain how the nature of work and the social context surrounding occupations has changed since the 1970s; (2) reflect upon how their own jobs and career prospects have been affected by these social and economic forces; (3) describe the current forms of work and how managerial control operates in the contemporary service workplace; (4) understand aspects of qualitative research methodology such as interviewing and ethnography; (5) develop their critique of what public policies are necessary to promote good jobs; and (6) assess alternative perspectives and trends on the future of work and evaluate which of those are most likely to dominate.

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Course Requirements (percent of grade) Course Assignment Reading questions and class discussion Three yellow papers Proportion of Final Grade 40 percent 20 percent each

Course Readings The following books contain required reading for the course. They are available at the bookstore. Vallas, Steven Peter. 2012. Work: A Critique. Cambridge: Polity Press. Edwards, Richard. 1979. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. New York: Basic Books. Kalleberg, Arne L. 2011. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs. The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment in the United States, 1970s to 2000s. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Abbott, Andrew. 1988. The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Marschall, Daniel. 2012. The Company We Keep: Occupational Community in the High-Tech Network Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Other readings will be posted on the Blackboard site for the course.

Course Schedule: Soc 6252.10 Spring 2014

Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Introduction to the Course

=> Instructor and student introductions => Distribute course syllabus and discuss => Class writing activity in composition book. In what job or type of work have you experienced the highest level of job satisfaction? What was it about the work that you found fulfilling? => Assignment: Go to the Career Vision Job Satisfaction Quiz at: http://www.careerpath.com/career-tests/job-satisfaction/ Take this quiz, print out the results, and bring them to the second class. Exercise: How accurate are these results? To what extent do they reflect your experience at your current or previous jobs?

1
January 14

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Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Job Satisfaction

Class Exercise: Discuss results of job satisfaction quiz. -- Kalleberg. Job Satisfaction. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, pp. 164-176. (Text) Review chart: Ten Characteristics of Jobs that Affect Job Satisfaction. (Handout) => Assignment: Yellow Paper #1. Review the results of your quiz and write a paper about your experience with job satisfaction. Due end of January 28th class. (See page 9 for assignment description.)

2
January 21

Change and Diversity in the Meaning(s) of Work

-- Gamst, Frederick C. 1995. Considerations of Work. In Meanings of Work, ed. Frederick C. Gamst, 1-45. Albany: State University of New York Press. (On Blackboard Bb) -- Catherine Loughlin and Julian Barling. 2001. Young workers values, attitudes, and behaviours. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 74: 543-558. (On Bb) -- Laura Wray-Lake, et al. 2009. Exploring the Changing Meaning of Work for American High School Seniors from 1976 to 2005. Pennsylvania State University working paper. (On Bb) -- Rothberg, Deborah. Generation Y for Dummies. eWeek, 24 August 2006. (On Bb) Week

Theoretical Perspectives on Work and Labor Processes

-- Paul Hirsch, et al. 1987. Dirty Hands versus Clean Models. Theory and Society 16: 317-336. (On Bb) -- Everett Hughes. 1958. Work and the Self. (On Bb) -- Vallas. Introduction and Capitalism, Taylorism, and the Problem of Labor Control. In Work, pp. 1-59. (Text) -- Excerpts from Estranged Labor. (On Bb) -- Kai Erikson. On Work and Alienation. American Sociological Review 51, no. 1: 1-8. (On Bb) => Hand in Yellow Paper #1 in class

3
January 28

Week

Managerial Control in Historical and Theoretical Perspective

-- Edwards. Contested Terrain, Chapters 1-8, pp. 3-162. (Text) -- Cappelli, Peter and JR Keller. 2013. Classifying Work in the New Economy. Academy of Management Review 38, no. 4: 575-596. (On Bb) Exercise: Think about your own work history in terms of Cappelli and Kellers categories. -- Lazzarato, Maurizio. 1996. Immaterial Labour. In Radical Thought in Italy: A Potential Politics, eds. Paulo Virno and Michael Hardt, 133-147. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (On Bb) Resource document: Telework, excerpt from collective bargaining agreement. (On Bb)

4
February 4

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Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Employment Relations and Precarious Work

-- Vallas. From Fordism to Flexibility? In Work, pp. 60-85. (Text) -- Kalleberg. Chapter 1, 2 and 5. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, pp. 1-39, 82-104. (Text) -- Foti, Alex. 2004. Precarity and N/European Identity. Greenpepper. (On Bb)

5
February 11 Week

Technology and the Transformation of Work

-- McLaughlin, Janice and Andrew Webster. 1998. Rationalising Knowledge: IT Systems, Professional Identities and Power. The Sociological Review 46, no. 4: 781802. (On Bb) -- Alic, J. A. 2004. Technology and Labor in the New US Economy. Technology in Society 26: 327-341. (On Bb) -- Nygren, Katarina Giritli. 2012. Narrative of ICT and Organizational Change in Public Administration. Gender, Work and Organization 19, no. 6: 615-630. (On Bb) -- Zammuto, Raymond F., et al. 2007. Information Technology and the Changing Fabric of Organization. Organization Science 18, no. 5: 749-762. (On Bb) [Note: these readings are subject to change.] => Assignment: Yellow Paper #2. Interview a long-tenured employee in your workplace about how technology has changed its social relations. Due at end of March 4th class. (Assignment to be outlined in detail at end of syllabus.)

6
February 18

Week

Professions and Occupational Control

-- Wilensky, H.L. 1964. The professionalization of everyone. American Journal of Sociology 70, no. 2: 137-158. (On Bb) -- Abbott, Andrew. 1988. The System of Professions, Introduction and Parts I and II, pp. 1-211. (Text) Controversy in Pharmacist Profession: -- Code of Ethics for Pharmacists. (On Bb) -- Rienzi, Mark L. 2012. Forcing Healthcare Professional to Dispense Emergency Contraception is Discriminatory, U.S. News and World Report, 15 October. (On Bb) -- Borchelt, Gretchen. 2012. Pharmacists Cant Be Allowed to Deny Women Emergency Contraception, U.S. News and World Report, 16 October. (On Bb)

7
February 25

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Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Research on Work in Occupational Communities

-- Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1964. The Biography of a Research Project: Union Democracy. In Sociologists at Work, ed. Philip E. Hammond, 96-120. New York: Basic Books. (On Bb) -- Marschall. Prologue and Network Society and Occupational Community. In The Company We Keep, pp. 1-36. (Text) Gender and socialization in the occupational community of police officers -- Van Maanen, John. 1973. Observations on the Making of Policemen. Human Organization 32, 4: 407-417. (On Bb) -- McElhinny, Bonnie S. 1998. I dont smile much anymore: Affect, Gender, and the Discourse of Pittsburgh Police Officers. In Language and Gender: A Reader, ed. Jennifer Coates, 309-327. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. (On Bb) => Hand in Yellow Paper #2 in class Spring Break No classes

8
March 4

March 10-15 Week

Work and Projects in the Information Economy

-- Abbott. The Information Professions. In The System of Professions, pp. 215-246. (Text) -- Marschall. Chapters 2-5 and Epilogue. In The Company We Keep, pp. 37-154. (Text) -- Jones, Candace. 1996. Careers in Project Networks: The Case of the Film Industry. In Boundaryless Careers, eds. Michael B. Arthur and Denise M. Rousseau, 58-75. New York: Oxford University Press. (On Bb) Exercise: Think about how projects have structured your own work experience and affected how you relate to your (past or current) co-workers.

9
March 18

Week

Gender and Racial Inequality in the Workplace

-- Kalleberg. New Workers, New Differences. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, pp. 40-58. (Text) -- Vallas. Ascriptive Inequalities at Work I: Gender and Ascriptive Inequalities II: Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity at Work, in Work, pp. 87-132. (Text) -- Robinson, Gail and Kathleen Dechant. 1997. Building a business case for diversity. The Academy of Management Executive 11, no. 3: 21-31. (On Bb) -- Owens, Reginald. 1997. Diversity: A bottomline issue. Workforce 76. (On Bb) -- Wrench, John. 2005. Diversity management can be bad for you. Race & Class 46, no. 3: 73-84. (On Bb)

10
March 25

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Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Globalization and the Changing Nature of Work
-- Vallas. The Globalization of Work and Conclusion, in Work, pp. 133-169. (Text) -- Gereffi, Gary and Michelle Christian. 2009. The Impacts of Wal-Mart: The Rise and Consequences of the Worlds Dominant Retailer. Annual Review of Sociology 35: 573591. (On Bb) -- Rosen, Ellen Israel. 2005. Life Inside Americas Largest Dysfunctional Family: Working for Wal-Mart. New Labor Forum 14, no. 1: 31-39. (On Bb) -- Lichtenstein, Nelson and Erin Johansson. 2011. Creating Hourly Careers: A New Vision for Walmart and the Country. Washington, DC: American Rights at Work. (On Bb) => Assignment: Yellow Paper #3. Write an essay on globalization, public policy, and the quality of work at Wal-Mart. Due at end of April 15th class. (Assignment to be outlined in detail at end of syllabus.)

11
April 1

Week

Public Policy: Is the Economy Suffering from a Skills Gap?

-- Kalleberg. Confronting Polarization and Precarity and Implementing the New Social Contract. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, pp. 179-215. (Text) -- Deloitte. 2011. Boiling Point? The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing. Washington, DC: The Manufacturing Institute. (On Bb) -- Manpower Group. 3013. Talent Shortage Survey: Research Results, pp. 1-12. (On Bb) -- Levine, Marc V. 2013. The Skills Gap and Unemployment in Wisconsin: Separating Fact from Fiction. Milwaukee, WI: University of WisconsinMilwaukee Center for Economic Development. (On Bb)

12
April 8

Week

Labor Unions and the Future of Worker Representation

-- Madland, David, Karla Walter and Nick Bunker. 2011. Unions Make the Middle Class. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. (On Bb) -- Cobble, Dorothy Sue and Michael Merrill. 2009. The Promise of Service Worker Unionism. In Service Work: Critical Perspectives, eds. Marek Korczynski and Cameron Lynne Macdonald, 153-174. New York: Routledge. (On Bb) -- Avendano, Ana and Jonathan Hiatt. 2012. Worker Self-Organization in the New Economy: The AFL-CIOs Experience in Movement Building with CommunityLabour Partnerships. Labour, Capital and Society 45, no. 1: 67-95. (On Bb) -- Moberg, David. 2013. The New AFL-CIO. In These Times, 8 October. (On Bb) Guest speaker: Ana Avendano on unions and future models of worker representation => Hand in Yellow Paper #3 in class

13
April 15

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Date
Week

Class Readings and Activities Pondering the Futures of Work (and Leisure)
-- Man vs. Machine 2011. Watch this short segment from PBS News Hour:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june12/man_vs_machine_05-24.html

14
April 22

-- Koller, Frank. 2012. Should we Fear the End of Work? Brief report from Cornell ILR School 2013 Roundtable on Employment and Technology. (On Bb) -- Morgan, Jacob. 2013. Five Trends Shaping the Future of Work. Forbes, 20 June. (On Bb) -- Frey, Thomas. 2012. Two Billion Jobs to Disappear by 2030. Journal of Environmental Health 74, no. 10: 36-38. (On Bb) -- Mettler, Ann and Anthony D. Williams. 2011. The Rise of the Micro-Multinational: How Freelancers and Technology-Savvy Start-Ups Are Driving Growth, Jobs and Innovation. Brussels: The Lisbon Council. (On Bb) -- Swanson, D. JoAnne. 2004. On the Leisure Track. (On Bb) This short essay is published by CLAWS: Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery, http://www.whywork.org/

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Writing Assignments
Yellow Paper #1: Job satisfaction Review the content of your Career Vision Job Satisfaction Report as discussed in January 21st class. Think about our class discussion and the points made in the Kalleberg article. Consider the ten characteristics that affect the level of job satisfaction you have experienced in particular jobs or other work that you have done, for example, in voluntary or school-related activities or in performing certain tasks in one or more jobs. Write a 5-10 page paper on job satisfaction and your experience with satisfactory work. To what extent do you think that you have experienced job satisfaction as it has been examined by social scientists? What did you find fulfilling about the job or the tasks that comprised the job? To what extent were the ten characteristics relevant to your experience? To what extent was the social context in which you worked, and the relationships that you developed with co-workers, important to your experience of achieving personal job satisfaction? Format for all writing assignments: use 8 ! X 11 size paper, double spaced with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Use footnotes for citations. Print out a copy for Professor Marschall and send an electronic copy to marschal@gwu.edu. You may post a copy on our class Facebook page, although this is not a requirement. Yellow Paper #2: How technology has changed in a workplace Description TBD. Yellow Paper #3: Globalization, public policy and the quality of work at Walmart * Description TBD * Students may select a different topic based upon class readings and discussions; instructor approval of topic is required.

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