Sociology, work and industry

1. Studying work and society

People, work and society

Thinking about work sociologically

Sociology, critique and democratic debate about work

Researching and theorising work patterns and experiences

Coping with the variety of orientation in the sociology of work and industry

2. The sociological analysis of work and industry

Six strands of thought in the sociology of work

The managerial-psychologistic strand

The Durkheim-systems strand

The interactionist strand

The Weber-interpretivist strand

The Marxian strand

The poststructuralist strand and postmodernism

Towards a language-sensitive but not language-centred sociology of work and organisation

3. Work, society and globalisation

The nature of modern societies

The emergence of industrial capitalism

Industrialisation and the changing division of labour

Technology, science and social change

Industrial capitalism: change and transition

McDonaldisation and the blurring of the manufacturing-service distinction

Globalisation in perspective

The organisational principle of work structuring

The nature of work organisations

Official and unofficial aspects of organisations

Organisational structures and cultures

Official structure and culture: basic organisational design principles

The limits of bureaucracy and the paradox of consequences

The virtues of bureaucracy, virtual organisations and the fantasy of the post-bureaucratic organisation

Contingency and choice in the shaping of organisational structures and cultures

Micropolitics, careers and unofficial management practices

5. The changing organisation and control of work

Work restructuring and the logic of corporate management

Choice and circumstance in the shaping of employment or 'human resourcing' practices

The pursuit of flexibility and direct and indirect managerial control options

Change and continuity in HR strategies and work practices

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and control

Culture management and worker subjectivity

6. Occupations, inequality and varieties of work

The occupational principle of work structuring

Occupational structure, class, status and inequality

Labour market segmentation and non-standard employment

Work outside employment

Gender and inequality

Ethnicity and inequality

Occupational socialisation and recruitment

Occupational careers

Occupational identity, culture and ideology

Occupational communities

Professionalisation and occupational strategies

7. Work experiences, identities and meanings

Work, meaning and culture

Entering work

Work and satisfaction

Technology, work experience and alienation

Work orientations: variations, dynamics and the negotiation of implicit contracts

Women's preferences, choices and work orientations

Identity, discourse and work experience

Anxiety, emotion and sexuality at work

Work and non-working lives

8. Conflict, resistance and misbehaviour in work

Conflict and cooperation at work

Analysing conflict at work

Contradictions and conflicts

Effort bargains, fragile implicit contracts and the inevitability of grievances

The mobilisation of interests

Adjustment, resistance and organisational mischief