Linda Mcdowell

Broschiertes Buch

Working Bodies

Beschreibung

Working Bodies examines the theoretical underpinnings and empirical nature of the noticeable shift to interactive and embodied forms of work in service economies. Introductory chapters explore the transformation of labour markets in advanced industrial economies, the arguments for and against a radical shift in the nature of employment, the growth of inequality and assess the growing significance of the body/work relationship. Later chapters consist of a series of mainly UK-based case studies of interactive and embodied servicing work - from childcare and sex work to boxing, nursing and low paid jobs in hospitality. Combining geographical and sociological theories with empirical research, the author explores the interconnections between class, ethnicity, gender in the construction of workplace identities, as well as the spatial division of labor in the 'servicing' economy. Informed by the latest scholarship, Working Bodies is an fascinating exploration of the growing significance of low-paid and often casualised forms of employment in the twenty-first century economy, challenging the insistence on new forms of knowledge work in conventional accounts of labour market transformations.

Autor

Linda McDowell is Professor of Human Geography and Director of the Graduate School of Geography at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. John's College, where she is also Director of the Research Centre.  Widely published, McDowell's books include Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City (1997), Redundant Masculinities? Employment Change and White Working Class Youth (2003) and Hard Labour (2005).

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 284
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Oktober 2009
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 16mm
• Gewicht: 416g
• ISBN-13: 9781405159784
• ISBN-10: 1405159782
• Artikelnr.: 27013442

Rezensionen

"Nevertheless, the book is accessibly written, and the varietyof themes it explores will ensure it has broad appeal amongundergraduates and postgraduates studying social division, gender,service work, labour relations and their relationships. The bookalso provides academics working in and across the disciplines ofsociology and human geography with a good overview of research intointeractive work and its implications in contemporary society."(Work, Employment & Society, 25 March 2011)

"Between the covers of this beautifully crafted book is athoughtful, innovative, and thorough analysis of high-touchinteractive service work that draws on numerous case studies andethnographies, mostly from the United Kingdom, and on the author'sown

original research. . . . This ambitious book is insightful andinformative, and it makes a valuable contribution to the study ofwork in contemporary capitalist societies". (Canadian Journal ofSociology, 2010)There are many books on service employment, but very few like this one. In this beautifully written and thoughtful book Linda McDowell shows, in turn, how such employment should not be seen as a new phenomenon, brings the cares, emotions and exploitations that go into servicing the bodies of others (children, consumers, elders, families, buyers of sexual services) close into view, and outlines a complex range of attributes - from skills and capabilities to personal and bodily features - that now count as essential employment requirements. The humdrum comes alive in the hands of this skilled ethnographer of work. Ash Amin, Durham University

Linda McDowell's state-of-the-art discussion demonstrates not only the importance of embodiment for current understandings of work but also the centrality of the workplace for the study of embodiment. Her analysis of high-touch interactive service work is comprehensive, concise and compelling, drawing on a wealth of case studies as well as her own original research. This timely volume raises a host of fascinating issues and will be an invaluable resource across the social sciences.
Miriam Glucksmann, University of Essex