Work

Much of our life involves working, preparing for work, searching for work, or thinking and worrying about work. Whether paid or unpaid, free or coerced, full-time, part-time, or zero-hours, work defines us and helps shape our behavior both on and off the job.  In this accessible book, leading labor economist Bruce Pietrykowski offers a highly engaging exploration of the history and contemporary organization of work under capitalism. His clear presentation of the theoretical debates is illustrated by real-world examples from across the globe and a skillful account of alternatives that point toward a post-capitalist future. Employing a progressive, worker-centered vision that goes beyond mainstream economics, he examines themes ranging from inequality, care work, and the gig economy to technological change and a universal basic income. His analysis emphasizes power, conflict, solidarity, and cooperation, interpreted through the lenses of class, race, gender, and place.  This comprehensive and highly readable book will be of interest to students of economics, sociology, labor studies, and politics seeking to learn more about work and workers in the global economy, as well as interested general readers.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction: The Unique Character of Work Work: A Political Economy Perspective From Peasant Class to Working Class The Unique Characteristics of Labor Text box 1.1 Are animals a part of the working class? Do fish resist? Text box 1.2 The interweaving of slavery and capitalism: cotton and seafood Notes 2: Inequality at Work: Skills, Wages and Productivity Income Inequality: The Rich and the Rest of Us Critical Analysis: Human Capital Theory Political Economy Critiques of Human Capital Theory Text box 2.1 Does my name make me less employable? Notes 3: Gender at Work: Caring Labor Identifying Care Work in the Economy Who Performs Housework Around the Globe? Bargaining and Power in the Household Care Work: Paid and Unpaid, Inside and Outside the Home Devaluation Thesis and Gender Bias Care Work and Social, Emotional Skills Household Labor and Social Reproduction: Past, Present and Future Text box 3.1 Emotional and aesthetic labor in the call center Notes 4: Managerial Strategies: Low Road vs. High Road and Off-Road Major Themes Defining Work Under Capitalism Low-Road Workplace Strategies From Low-Road to High-Road Strategies Off-Road: The Rise of Precarious Work Notes 5: Beyond Managerial Strategies: Worker Cooperatives Origins of the Cooperative Movement Worker Participation Versus Worker Control Political Structure of the Workplace Worker Control of the Firm Versus Worker Control of the Economy: Mondragon Cooperative Work in Solidarity and Community Economies Note 6: Technology, Automation and Skills: Restructuring the Workplace The Technology Debate Early Industrial Conflict Over Machine Production Political Economy Approaches to Technological Change Technology, Skills, Tasks and the Transformation of Work Automation and Robots in the Workplace Text box 6.1 European Parliament Report on the Social and Economic Impact of Robots Note 7: Conclusion: Future Worlds of Work Notes References Index

About the Author :
Bruce Pietrykowski is Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan–Dearborn

Review :
�This bright, readable, and radical overview of labor economics points a smart finger at the work that goes on behind and beyond capitalist employment.� Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts �This book provides a lucid and readable introduction to the political economy of work for students and non-economists. Drawing on Marxist, feminist, and Post-Keynesian schools of thought, and a wealth of historical examples, Pietrykowski provides a toolkit to break the intellectual fetters of mainstream economics. Starting with the question of what is special about labor, Pietrykowski's discussion covers labor-market inequality, work in the household, employer behavior, worker ownership, technological change, and much more.� Ian Greer, Cornell University �Bruce Pietrykowski has written a sharp and nuanced critique of mainstream perspectives in labor economics that will broaden readers' understanding of what constitutes �work� in the modern economy.� Journal of Labor and Society �Very insightful...the book functions as Cliff Notes...for the classics and gives interested readers a wealth of citations and material on contemporary debates.� Daniel James Joseph, Labour