The nostalgia for permanence at work? The end of work and its commentators

Author: Strangleman, Tim

Source: The Sociological Review, Volume 55, Number 1, February 2007 , pp. 81-103(23)

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Abstract:

This article examines a contemporary trend in the sociology of work that is labelled here the `end of work' debate after Jeremy Rifkin's book of the same name. It explores this trend, suggesting that marked similarities exist between a range of authors in Europe and North America who propose that work regimes and the meaning derived from them are changing fundamentally. This literature is then placed in the context of an older canon on decline in work and employment. Using the insights of newer qualitative studies that have emerged over the last decade it is suggested that much of the `end of work' type of writing over-generalises a complex situation, suggesting that sociology needs to incorporate macro theorisation with detailed empirical research if it is to properly understand changes in the contemporary world of work.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00683.x

Affiliations: 1: University of Kent at Canterbury

Publication date: 2007-02-01