Paul Brook
Biographic Data
| ID | 9124619 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Brook |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Brook |
| SIGNATURE | BROOK P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Leicester |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 203 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 4 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
At Least I'm My Own Boss! Explaining Consent, Coercion and Resistance in Platform Work
Platform work has grown significantly in the last decade. High-profile legal cases have highlighted the grey area which platform work inhabits in terms of the employment relationship and have raised concerns about the quality and conditions of work. Platform operators claim they are neutral intermediaries, yet often control over scheduling and tasks lies with them. This article presents a theoretical framework that integrates macro and micro-leve…
Solidarities In and Through Work in an Age of Extremes
This article introduces a special issue of Work, Employment and Society on solidarities in and through the experience of work in an age of austerity and political polarisation. It commences by discussing the renaissance of studies of solidarity in the workplace - and beyond. Debates on solidarity as a concept are reviewed in relation to moral economy, labour organising-mobilisation, emotional labour and public sociology. Each of the special issue…
Work, employment and society sans frontières
Work, employment and society (WES ) was launched in 1987 in a period in which a number of features of British society were changing rapidly. The vibrancy and the optimism of the 1960s looked increasingly remote and sociology and the study of work reflected the more straitened times that came with the social transformations wrought by Thatcherism. The early 1980s had seen savage deflation, a consequent sharp contraction of the manufacturing indust…
Thirty years after Hochschild's ‘Managed Heart’
The University of Gloucestershire has a vibrant academic community where creative research and cutting-edge scholarship are conducted at a high level. Our learning-led environment enables research to thrive, providing the best support for students
Emotional labour and the living personality at work
This article builds on Hochschild's primary understanding of emotional labour, as an aspect of labour power and sold for a wage, to develop a materialist theory of labour subjectivity from within the Marxist tradition that deepens and extends labour process analysis. It argues that the physical, intellectual and emotional aspects of labour power comprise a dynamic, inter-dependent complex – Marx's living personality at work – and that emotional e…
Partisan, scholarly and active
Despite a thriving tradition of critical scholarship in United Kingdom-based sociology of work, Burawoy's call for a partisan organic public sociology that is part of 'a social movement beyond the academy' and Bourdieu's plea for committed scholarship in the service of the social movement against neo-liberalism have received scant attention. This article seeks to stimulate debate by presenting a framework for a left-radical organic public sociolo…
Outside, inside
Purpose This paper aims to examine the role and experiences of women working in the industrial relations (IR) academy and to explore the recent claim that the subject of industrial relations has “been very receptive to the contributions of feminist analysis”. Design/methodology/approach An examination is made of the liminal position of women IR scholars in the IR academy and their concern for feminist and gender analysis. Parallels are drawn with…
Visibility and voice in organisations
Purpose The paper aims to focus on the activism of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people and their allies within work organisations. Specifically, it explores whether LGBT trade union groups and company employee network groups provide mechanisms for visibility, voice and activism for LGBT employees within UK organisations. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on in‐depth interviews with 149 LGB employees within 14 UK c…
Equality and diversity in employment relations
Purpose The pursuit of equality and valuing of diversity are central tenets of much organisational thinking and public policy development. However, in this current age of austerity we are witnessing a number of existing and proposed “fairness initiatives” feeling the sharp blade of a cost‐cutting axe. This paper is a reflexive response that aims to examine a piece of action research in the field of industrial relations. It aims to take the profes…
Inclusion of a diverse workforce in the UK
Purpose The purpose of this research paper is to examine the integration of an increasingly diverse workforce in the UK following the EU expansion of 2004 to incorporate the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at a time of increased migration from other areas of the EU such as Portugal. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents data from five case study companies. The key methods of data collection were 88 semi‐structured int…
The Alienated Heart
Arlie Russell Hochschild's influential emotional labour thesis in The Managed Heart (1983) exposes and opposes the harm wrought by the commodification of human feelings as customer service, and complements contemporary anticapitalist writing with an enduring influence and political relevance that is underpinned by Hochschild's application of Marx's alienation theory. Critics have sought to blunt the politics of her thesis by rejecting as absoluti…
In critical defence of 'emotional labour
Sharon Bolton's comprehensive critique of Hochschild's concept of 'emotional labour' is flawed by her misinterpretation of its primary form as an aspect of labour power. Consequently, she erroneously argues that emotional labour is commodified only when transformed into commercial service work. However, emotion workers experience commodification of their labour power as wage-labour, irrespective of the nature of their product. Bolton also argues …
Customer oriented militants? A critique of the 'customer oriented bureaucracy' theory on front-line service worker collectivism
This critique challenges the Customer Oriented Bureaucracy (COB) theory’s argument that the experience of customer service is pivotal to the formation of front-line service worker collectivism. COB’s rejection of the major tenets of Marxist analysis, thereby denying the exploitative and class nature of service work, results in Korczynski theorising front-line worker collectivism as based only on the shared experience of doing customer service rat…
In critical defence of 'emotional labour
Sharon Bolton's comprehensive critique of Hochschild's concept of 'emotional labour' is flawed by her misinterpretation of its primary form as an aspect of labour power. Consequently, she erroneously argues that emotional labour is commodified only when transformed into commercial service work. However, emotion workers experience commodification of their labour power as wage-labour, irrespective of the nature of their product. Bolton also argues …
At Least I'm My Own Boss! Explaining Consent, Coercion and Resistance in Platform Work
Platform work has grown significantly in the last decade. High-profile legal cases have highlighted the grey area which platform work inhabits in terms of the employment relationship and have raised concerns about the quality and conditions of work. Platform operators claim they are neutral intermediaries, yet often control over scheduling and tasks lies with them. This article presents a theoretical framework that integrates macro and micro-leve…
Partisan, scholarly and active
Despite a thriving tradition of critical scholarship in United Kingdom-based sociology of work, Burawoy's call for a partisan organic public sociology that is part of 'a social movement beyond the academy' and Bourdieu's plea for committed scholarship in the service of the social movement against neo-liberalism have received scant attention. This article seeks to stimulate debate by presenting a framework for a left-radical organic public sociolo…
Solidarities In and Through Work in an Age of Extremes
This article introduces a special issue of Work, Employment and Society on solidarities in and through the experience of work in an age of austerity and political polarisation. It commences by discussing the renaissance of studies of solidarity in the workplace - and beyond. Debates on solidarity as a concept are reviewed in relation to moral economy, labour organising-mobilisation, emotional labour and public sociology. Each of the special issue…
The Alienated Heart
Arlie Russell Hochschild's influential emotional labour thesis in The Managed Heart (1983) exposes and opposes the harm wrought by the commodification of human feelings as customer service, and complements contemporary anticapitalist writing with an enduring influence and political relevance that is underpinned by Hochschild's application of Marx's alienation theory. Critics have sought to blunt the politics of her thesis by rejecting as absoluti…
Visibility and voice in organisations
Purpose The paper aims to focus on the activism of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people and their allies within work organisations. Specifically, it explores whether LGBT trade union groups and company employee network groups provide mechanisms for visibility, voice and activism for LGBT employees within UK organisations. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on in‐depth interviews with 149 LGB employees within 14 UK c…
Work, employment and society sans frontières
Work, employment and society (WES ) was launched in 1987 in a period in which a number of features of British society were changing rapidly. The vibrancy and the optimism of the 1960s looked increasingly remote and sociology and the study of work reflected the more straitened times that came with the social transformations wrought by Thatcherism. The early 1980s had seen savage deflation, a consequent sharp contraction of the manufacturing indust…
Emotional labour and the living personality at work
This article builds on Hochschild's primary understanding of emotional labour, as an aspect of labour power and sold for a wage, to develop a materialist theory of labour subjectivity from within the Marxist tradition that deepens and extends labour process analysis. It argues that the physical, intellectual and emotional aspects of labour power comprise a dynamic, inter-dependent complex – Marx's living personality at work – and that emotional e…
Customer oriented militants? A critique of the 'customer oriented bureaucracy' theory on front-line service worker collectivism
This critique challenges the Customer Oriented Bureaucracy (COB) theory’s argument that the experience of customer service is pivotal to the formation of front-line service worker collectivism. COB’s rejection of the major tenets of Marxist analysis, thereby denying the exploitative and class nature of service work, results in Korczynski theorising front-line worker collectivism as based only on the shared experience of doing customer service rat…
Thirty years after Hochschild's ‘Managed Heart’
The University of Gloucestershire has a vibrant academic community where creative research and cutting-edge scholarship are conducted at a high level. Our learning-led environment enables research to thrive, providing the best support for students
Inclusion of a diverse workforce in the UK
Purpose The purpose of this research paper is to examine the integration of an increasingly diverse workforce in the UK following the EU expansion of 2004 to incorporate the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at a time of increased migration from other areas of the EU such as Portugal. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents data from five case study companies. The key methods of data collection were 88 semi‐structured int…
Outside, inside
Purpose This paper aims to examine the role and experiences of women working in the industrial relations (IR) academy and to explore the recent claim that the subject of industrial relations has “been very receptive to the contributions of feminist analysis”. Design/methodology/approach An examination is made of the liminal position of women IR scholars in the IR academy and their concern for feminist and gender analysis. Parallels are drawn with…
Equality and diversity in employment relations
Purpose The pursuit of equality and valuing of diversity are central tenets of much organisational thinking and public policy development. However, in this current age of austerity we are witnessing a number of existing and proposed “fairness initiatives” feeling the sharp blade of a cost‐cutting axe. This paper is a reflexive response that aims to examine a piece of action research in the field of industrial relations. It aims to take the profes…
Customer oriented militants? A critique of the 'customer oriented bureaucracy' theory on front-line service worker collectivism
This critique challenges the Customer Oriented Bureaucracy (COB) theory’s argument that the experience of customer service is pivotal to the formation of front-line service worker collectivism. COB’s rejection of the major tenets of Marxist analysis, thereby denying the exploitative and class nature of service work, results in Korczynski theorising front-line worker collectivism as based only on the shared experience of doing customer service rat…
The Alienated Heart
Arlie Russell Hochschild's influential emotional labour thesis in The Managed Heart (1983) exposes and opposes the harm wrought by the commodification of human feelings as customer service, and complements contemporary anticapitalist writing with an enduring influence and political relevance that is underpinned by Hochschild's application of Marx's alienation theory. Critics have sought to blunt the politics of her thesis by rejecting as absoluti…
In critical defence of 'emotional labour
Sharon Bolton's comprehensive critique of Hochschild's concept of 'emotional labour' is flawed by her misinterpretation of its primary form as an aspect of labour power. Consequently, she erroneously argues that emotional labour is commodified only when transformed into commercial service work. However, emotion workers experience commodification of their labour power as wage-labour, irrespective of the nature of their product. Bolton also argues …
Outside, inside
Purpose This paper aims to examine the role and experiences of women working in the industrial relations (IR) academy and to explore the recent claim that the subject of industrial relations has “been very receptive to the contributions of feminist analysis”. Design/methodology/approach An examination is made of the liminal position of women IR scholars in the IR academy and their concern for feminist and gender analysis. Parallels are drawn with…
Visibility and voice in organisations
Purpose The paper aims to focus on the activism of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people and their allies within work organisations. Specifically, it explores whether LGBT trade union groups and company employee network groups provide mechanisms for visibility, voice and activism for LGBT employees within UK organisations. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on in‐depth interviews with 149 LGB employees within 14 UK c…
Equality and diversity in employment relations
Purpose The pursuit of equality and valuing of diversity are central tenets of much organisational thinking and public policy development. However, in this current age of austerity we are witnessing a number of existing and proposed “fairness initiatives” feeling the sharp blade of a cost‐cutting axe. This paper is a reflexive response that aims to examine a piece of action research in the field of industrial relations. It aims to take the profes…
Inclusion of a diverse workforce in the UK
Purpose The purpose of this research paper is to examine the integration of an increasingly diverse workforce in the UK following the EU expansion of 2004 to incorporate the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at a time of increased migration from other areas of the EU such as Portugal. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents data from five case study companies. The key methods of data collection were 88 semi‐structured int…
Thirty years after Hochschild's ‘Managed Heart’
The University of Gloucestershire has a vibrant academic community where creative research and cutting-edge scholarship are conducted at a high level. Our learning-led environment enables research to thrive, providing the best support for students
Emotional labour and the living personality at work
This article builds on Hochschild's primary understanding of emotional labour, as an aspect of labour power and sold for a wage, to develop a materialist theory of labour subjectivity from within the Marxist tradition that deepens and extends labour process analysis. It argues that the physical, intellectual and emotional aspects of labour power comprise a dynamic, inter-dependent complex – Marx's living personality at work – and that emotional e…
Partisan, scholarly and active
Despite a thriving tradition of critical scholarship in United Kingdom-based sociology of work, Burawoy's call for a partisan organic public sociology that is part of 'a social movement beyond the academy' and Bourdieu's plea for committed scholarship in the service of the social movement against neo-liberalism have received scant attention. This article seeks to stimulate debate by presenting a framework for a left-radical organic public sociolo…
Work, employment and society sans frontières
Work, employment and society (WES ) was launched in 1987 in a period in which a number of features of British society were changing rapidly. The vibrancy and the optimism of the 1960s looked increasingly remote and sociology and the study of work reflected the more straitened times that came with the social transformations wrought by Thatcherism. The early 1980s had seen savage deflation, a consequent sharp contraction of the manufacturing indust…
Solidarities In and Through Work in an Age of Extremes
This article introduces a special issue of Work, Employment and Society on solidarities in and through the experience of work in an age of austerity and political polarisation. It commences by discussing the renaissance of studies of solidarity in the workplace - and beyond. Debates on solidarity as a concept are reviewed in relation to moral economy, labour organising-mobilisation, emotional labour and public sociology. Each of the special issue…
At Least I'm My Own Boss! Explaining Consent, Coercion and Resistance in Platform Work
Platform work has grown significantly in the last decade. High-profile legal cases have highlighted the grey area which platform work inhabits in terms of the employment relationship and have raised concerns about the quality and conditions of work. Platform operators claim they are neutral intermediaries, yet often control over scheduling and tasks lies with them. This article presents a theoretical framework that integrates macro and micro-leve…
Sociology (12 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (6 works) · Social science (6 works) · Business (4 works) · Economics (4 works) · Law (4 works)