This anthology brings more than fifty years of scholarship of the culture and sociology of work into a compelling introductory and analytical text. Sociologists have long sought to understand the universal activity of work from the point of view of the worker. This book shows how common sociological themes such as socialization, social interaction, the social construction of time, and deviance are experienced in work settings as diverse as the factory, the nightclub, the restaurant, and the offices of high-tech professionals. Featuring vivid ethnographies, the book is organized around the concept of culture: the recognition that people doing things together organize social life in common and identifiable ways. As such, this collection can be used as an innovative core reader or as an ideal supplement to standard texts that approach work from the demographic, structural, or macro perspectives. An online teaching guide is available to all adopters.
Synopsis
This anthology brings more than fifty years of scholarship of the culture and sociology of work into a vivid introductory and analytical textbook. Sociologists have long sought to understand the universal activity of work from the point of view of the worker. This book shows how common sociological themes such as socialization, social interaction, the social construction of time, and deviance are experienced in work settings as diverse as the factory, the night club, the restaurant, and to offices of high tech professionals. Featuring vivid ethnography, the book is organized around the concept of culture: the recognition that people doing things together organize social life in common and identifiable ways. As such, the book is a poignant core textbook or a perfect supplement to standard texts in the sociology of work that approach work from the demographic, structural, or macro perspectives.
About the Author, Douglas Harper
Douglas Harper, professor and chair of the sociology department at Duquesne University, is the author of Working Knowledge: Skill and Community in a Small Shop (1987) and Changing Works: Visions of a Lost Agriculture. Helene M. Lawson, professor and program director of sociology and coordinator of the gender studies program at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, is the author of Ladies on the Lot: Women, Car Sales, and the Pursuit of the American Dream.
The editors have brought together a superb collection of occupational studies ranging from medical and veterinary practitioners to paralegals, beauticians, barbers, and baseball players that illuminates the inescapable connection between work and self-conception. The authors deserve the thanks of those interested in society for keeping alive the contributions of Hughes and those who were influenced by him. The insights provided by this book merit a wide and enthusiastic readership; they will not be disappointed. Essential.
Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute
The Cultural Study of Work is an excellent introduction to the field, a pleasure to read, and with its organizational and editorial strength , a volume that is likely to be of lasting value.
Times Literary Supplement
Douglas Harper and Helen M. Lawson's rich collection on work cultures is especially welcome, and interesting.
