The Sociology of Work: From Industrial Sociology to Work, Employment and the Economy

Abstract

The paper reviews the progress of the sociology of work in Britain since 1945. It identifies two long-standing influences, Marxism and Weberian analysis, and a third more recent approach shaped by post-modernism. It disputes claims associated with the last, that the field suffers from fragmentation and lack of integration in mainstream sociology. It demonstrates, by contrast, a continuing ability to address the changing nature of work, reflected in constructive debate between the first two approaches. The definition of the field has also broadened considerably. Future challenges include the analysis of developments at the top of the class structure, that is a sociology of managers and of capital, and those at the bottom, notably the effects of migration on work and employment.