The Cultural Study of Work

This is an edited volume of readings with commentary by the authors. It applies the concept of culture to the study of work tracing the development of the culture of work through a series of readings. Its approach is based on the definitions of culture given by James Spradley, anthropologist, and Howard Becker, sociologist and follows a line of thinking initiated by Everett Hughes and the Chicago School. This anthology brings more than fifty years of scholarship of the culture and sociology of work into a compelling introductory and analytical text. Sociologists have long sought to understand the universal activity of work from the point of view of the worker. This book shows how common sociological themes such as socialization, social interaction, the social construction of time, and deviance are experienced in work settings as diverse as the factory, the nightclub, the restaurant, and the offices of high-tech professionals. Featuring vivid ethnographies, the book is organized around the concept of culture: the recognition that people doing things together organize social life in common and identifiable ways. As such, this collection can be used as an innovative core reader or as an ideal supplement to standard texts that approach work from the demographic, structural, or macro perspectives. An online teaching guide is available to all adopters

Deviance · Socialization · Sociology of culture · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Labor Movements and Unions · Industrial sociology · Social aspects · sociological aspects · Work