Sociology of work

Information about Sociology of work

General Aspects
Sociology
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Applied sociology Public sociology Social research Sociological theory
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Comparative sociology Criminology Demography Social movements Social psychology Sociolinguistics Sociology of: culture deviance economics education gender knowledge law politics religion science stratification work
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Industrial sociology (also known as "sociology of industrial relations" or sociology of work) is both a study of the interaction of people within industry (e.g. boss-subordinate, inter-departmental, and management-union relations) and, on a macrosociological scale, the study of the impact of industrialization on whole societies.

Labor Process Theory

One branch of industrial sociology is Labor Process Theory (LPT). In 1974, Harry Braverman wrote Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century, which provided a critical analysis of scientific management. This book analyzed capitalist productive relations from a Marxist perspective. After Marx, Braverman argued that work within capitalist organisations was exploitative and alienating, and therefore workers had to be coerced into servitude. For Braverman the pursuit of capitalist interests throughout time ultimately leads to deskilling and routinisation of the worker, and it is the taylorist (see Frederick Taylor, Scientific Managementwork) design that is the ultimate embodiment of this tendency.

Braverman demonstrated several mechanisms of control in both the factory blue collar and clerical white collar labor force.

Braverman's key contribution was in his "deskilling" thesis. Braverman argued that capitalist owners and managers were incessantly driven to deskill the labor force to lower production costs and ensure higher productivity. Deskilled labour is cheap and above all easy to control due to the workers lack of direct engagement in the production process. In turn work becomes intellectually or emotionally unfulfilling; the lack of capitalist reliance on human skill reduces the need of employers to reward workers in anything but a minimal economic way.

Braverman's contribution to the sociology of work and industry (i.e., industrial sociology) has been important and his theories of the labor process continue to inform teaching and research. Braverman's thesis has however been contested, notably by Andrew Freidman in his work "Industry and Labour" (1977). In it, Freidman suggests that whilst the direct control of labour is beneficial for the capitalist under certain circumstances, a degree of 'responsible autonomy' can be granted to unionised or 'core' workers, in order to harness their skill under controlled conditions. Also, Richard Edwards showed in 1979 that although hierarchy in organisations has remained constant, additional forms of control (such as technical control via email monitoring, call monitoring; bureaucratic control via procedures for leave, sickness etc) has been added to gain the interests of the capitalist class versus the workers.

Human resource management theory

Questions are how employer exploit and develop the human resources. There might me static models putting pressure on people or trials to search for the right job for the right person.

Organisational misbehaviour

The misbehaviour may be internal or external. Economic crises often lead to an increase of pressure leading to decrease of productivity. Lacking openness and willingness to incorporate external resources and ideas is a major reason for economical problems. A good behaviour includes the aim to match the job profile with the employees skills - fine tune it and develop the skills. For the external relations it is important to develop the ability to analyse and assess the competitors and the Intellectual property market and to integrate external resources if needed or offer own IP to the external. But often there is a misconception about the technological lead, companies do not develop benchmarks for their position amongst competitors. On the other end of the scale for misbehaviour technological escalation might overburden the market and lead to bad economy.

Postmodernism

Subfields

Applied sociology/clinical sociology (also see sociological practice)
Architecture, Sociology of
Art, Sociology of
Body, Sociology of
Business, Sociology of
Childhood, Sociology of

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Comparative sociology generally refers to sociological analysis that involves comparison of social processes between nation-states, or across different types of society (for example capitalist and socialist).
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See also

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Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space (see population dynamics).
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Social movements are a type of group action. They are large groupings of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change.
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Sociological social psychology, also known as psychological sociology, is a specialty area of sociology that relates macrosocial phenomena (e.g. social class) to the attitudes and behavior of individuals.
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Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics.
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Sociology of culture, or cultural sociology, is one of the most popular fields of sociology, particularly in the United States. Cultural sociology is a methodology that incorporates cultural analysis into interpretations of social life.
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The sociology of deviance is the sociological study of deviant behavior, the recognized violation of cultural norms, and the creation and enforcement of those norms. The sociology of deviance is related to, but also distinct from the field of criminology.
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Economic sociology is the sociological analysis of economic phenomena. As the earliest economists recognised, economic institutions are of profound importance to society as a whole and the social context affects the nature of local economic institutions.
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The sociology of education is the study of how social institutions and individual experiences affect educational processes and outcomes. Education has always been seen as a fundamentally optimistic human endeavour characterised by aspirations for progress and betterment.
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Sociology of gender is a prominent subfield of sociology. Since 1950 an increasing part of the academic literature, and of the public discourse uses gender for the perceived or projected (self-identified) masculinity or femininity of a person.
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The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies. (Compare history of ideas.
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Sociology of law refers to both a sub-discipline of sociology and an approach within the field of legal studies. Sociology of law is a diverse field of study which examines the interaction of law with other aspects of society: such as the effect of legal institutions,
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Political sociology is the study of power and the intersection of personality, social structure and politics. Political sociology is interdisciplinary, where political science and sociology intersect.
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sociology of religion is primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in nearly all societies on Earth today and
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Sociology of science is the subfield of sociology that deals with the practice of science.

Generally speaking, the sociology of science involves the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing "with the social conditions and effects of science, and with
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In sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes and strata within a society. While these hierarchies are not universal to all societies, they are the norm among state-level cultures (as distinguished from hunter-gatherers or other
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Industrial sociology (also known as "sociology of industrial relations" or sociology of work) is both a study of the interaction of people within industry (e.g.
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industrial relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a union.

Labor relations is an important factor in analyzing "varieties of capitalism", such as neocorporatism (or corporatism), social democracy, and
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