work and economy

Question 1

functionalist perspective on work:

Answer 1

work is essential to preservation of stability, prosperity, productivity and development
-different roles, different functions
-reward system and stratification based on meritocracy
one’s accumulated capitals determine where they stand, lets say one’s education level
-unequal values of diff jobs, unequal rewards, and overall, this system is doing good

Question 2

work in history

Answer 2

the conditions, nature, organization and types of work has changed in recent and through history
-one of the most important forces behind these changes is (industrial) tech
-inventions, application, and spread of new kinds of machinery and technologies of production and distribution
-capitalism is heavily invested in tech

Question 3

industrial society:

Answer 3

a society that uses advanced tech that when combined w a detailed division of labour, promotes mass production and a high standard of living
- shifts from traditional to modern and industrial society
-the whole packet of associated features we consider part of modern life: consumerism, individualism, mass production

Question 4

tenets

Answer 4

needing a full-fledged revolution in mass production to produce great deal of things that ppl can buy or consume
-mass production is manufacturing large quantities of standardized commodities

-needing a full-fledged revolution in mass consumption
-there needs to be consumers w money to spend and the desire to spend it

-needing a full-fledged revolution in mass communication
-encouraging ppl to spend their money

-needing full fledged revolution in mass distribution
-world commerce: global flows of ppl, materials, commodities, and capital

Question 5

-division of labour:

Answer 5

the coordinated assignment of different parts of a job to diff ppl to improve efficiency

Question 6

specialization

Answer 6

a system of production in which diff individ or groups each focus on producing limited range of goods or services to yield greater efficiency

Question 7

profession and professionalization

Answer 7

a process where certain jobs or
occupational groups become “professions”
-such professions can claim expertise over the knowledge within their area and have autonomy
-doctors, lawyers, dentists
- parallel process: proletarianization

Question 8

proletarianization

Answer 8

the emergence of a junior wage working class among people w professional qualifications

Question 9

the bureaucratization of work

Answer 9

a defining feature of modern work and life
-large, complex, hierarchical organization
-rules and regulations, strict division of labour, impersonality

Question 10

-the mcdonaldization of work

Answer 10

George ritzer (1993-2015)
-American sociologist
-rationalization, specialization, bureaucratization, commodification of work on McDonald

Question 11

efficiency

Answer 11

reducing the time to complete a task such as filling an order

Question 12

calculability

Answer 12

getting workers to quantify how much theyre delivering, and letting customers know, in numbers, how much theyre getting versus how much theyre paying

Question 13

predictability

Answer 13

standardizing price, product, and service delivery from one location to another

Question 14

control

Answer 14

having all employees trained in the same way

Question 15

scientific management

Answer 15

developed by FW Taylor in the 1910’s also known as Taylorism
- how to best improve and maintain industrial work productivity?

Question 16

Taylorism

Answer 16

observing physical movements of workers, eliminating unnecessary ones, and assigning tiny, small tasks to each worker

Question 17

emotional labour

Answer 17

arlie Hochschild (1979)
- emotion management that certain works require as a part of the job
-is part of the paid job (or wage relations
-often jobs w high emotional labour requirement are gendered
-think of hospitality and service, care work, flight attendants

Question 18

global assembly lines

Answer 18

where products are assembled over the course of several international transactions

Question 19

global commodity chains

Answer 19

where internationally integrated economic links connect workers and corps for the purpose of manufacture and marketing

Question 20

global manufacturing:

Answer 20

peripheral and semi-peripheral states, w more flexibility, cheaper labour force, and less regulation (trade zones)
- new spatial organization of production and assembly

Question 21

outsourcing

Answer 21

global companies and multinational corps move their industrial processes to the places in the global south
-where they can get the most production w the LEAST cost, including costs for building infrastructure, training workers, shipping goods, and of course, paying employee wage

Question 22

consequences

Answer 22

-capital flight: referring to movement (flight) of capital from one nation to another, as when general motors, ford, and Chrysler close Canadian factories in Ontario and open factories in Mexico
-deindustrialization: occurs as a consequence of capital flight, as no new companies open to replace jobs lost to foreign nations
–> wb community needs? who and what is protected when it is about global flow of capital?

Question 23

bullshit jobs

Answer 23

-David graeber (2018)
-meaningless, unnecessary jobs that we all know is bullshit
-a job that someone doing it cannot justify its existence

Question 24

flunkies

Answer 24

paid to hang around and make their superiors feel important

Question 25

goons

Answer 25

gratuitous or arms-race muscle

Question 26

-duct tapers:

Answer 26

hired to patch or bridge major flaws that their bosses are too lazy or too inept to fix systemically

Question 27

-box tickers:

Answer 27

using paperwork or serious looking reports to suggest things are happening when things aren't

Question 28

taskmasters

Answer 28

unnecessary superiors who manage ppl who dont need management, and bs generators whose job is to create and assign more bs for others

Question 29

post industrialization:

Answer 29

shift to an economic system based more on knowledge, services, and info than factory made goods and primary production -post industrial Canada is an info society: dominated by info tech jobs

Question 30

Fordism

Answer 30

an approach to work org developed by henry ford that relied on strict division of labour and assembly line construction

Question 31

post-Fordism

Answer 31

argue that work today is drastically different from the past

Question 32

neo-Fordism:

Answer 32

recognizes that today globalization and info tech have changed the work ppl do and places where they do it, however, work continue to evolve along certain lines

Question 33

neoliberal work

Answer 33

-maximum deregulation so the market can maximize its profits, capital can freely move, and the market can easily regulate itself (and other domains) -decline in labour and workplace protection laws -absence or diminishing of unions or any collective action -the result: diminished or no security, workers more prone to exploitation and hardly any way out (only engaging in another similar type of work) -undermining responsibility, respect and morality at work: organization structures like employee relations are narrowly determined by consequences for cash flow and maximizing profits -favouring part-time workers and contract-based employment: can be called in or sent away as needed -reorganization and surveillance to maximize the amount of work done -limiting employee rights and grievance procedures loss of wage and protections, increasing layoffs -targeting specific social groups: who can be flexible, cheap, docile, manageable labour? who would engage in the mental jobs w no protection? -racialized, immigrant worker on temp legal permits, or undocumented from the global south

Question 34

the feminization of work

Answer 34

-increasing precarious work everywhere -part time employment, self employment, fixed term, temporary, on call, home-work, telecommunicating -the decline in standard employment is more rapid for racialized workers than for white workers, and esp for racialized men -feminization: not only the increase of women in the workforce but also the increase of precarious employment, in which women predominate

Question 35

blending labour and leisure

Answer 35

-duffy and wissinger (2017) -context: work in cultural sectors but lets apply it to other sectors -social media personalities: bloggers, vloggers, instagrammers, streamers -myths: career dream, free fun work, getting paid to do what you love -meritocratic potential of social media platforms and such jobs

Question 36

entrepreneur self?

Answer 36

-2 primary tenets: choice and personal responsibility -emphasizing self reliance, independence, and productivity

Question 37

UBERIRIFICATION OF WORK

Answer 37

think of Uber (and similar platforms) as a model for work -encapsulating broader work conditions: rise of temporary, fragmented, part-time, casualized piecework -casualization: the relationship between an employer and the employee becomes more casualized and less protected -who is responsible for the Amazon or Uber workers? is the algorithm and is the platform rational and fair?

Question 38

precarity?

Answer 38

Guy Standing (2011): Precariat -referring to temporary, part-time, insecure, casualize and mostly low-wage labour -lack of protections and safety -uncertain employment contracts or contractual temporariness -juggling multiple jobs to make a living -dequalification:(a resume full of different tiny jobs with no meaningful connections) -competition over solidarity: absence of unions - precariousness becoming a norm around the world -rise of a new class: precariat