Gillian Hadfield's astute Rules for a Flat World proposes a private market solution to rule-making because the current legislative or regulatory framework no longer meets the needs of a fast-paced digital economy. Further, lawyers have largely priced themselves out of the reach of many who would benefit from their services. By laying out…

We introduce an exercise designed to make Marx's theory of alienated labor accessible to students in a Sociology of Work class. Through a role-playing activity where students create and sell goods under conditions of both alienated and nonalienated labor, students actually experience the different material and social consequences of these…

In this article, the author talks about labored learning under the auspices of the "outing program" of Sherman Institute, an Indian boarding school in Riverside, California. The outing system functioned as a vital part of a larger federal Indian boarding school system that sought, in the words of historian Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert, to…

Using semistructured interviews and participant observation, this two-year pilot study of male Mexican migrants in Freehold, New Jersey, explored how day laborers perceive their struggles to support families despite escalating anti-immigrant legislation at virtually all levels of government. In particular, the author looks at efforts by Mexican…

Contingent, non-standard or "casual" work is present in large numbers in virtually every sector of the United States economy. Staffing strategies that use subcontracted or contingent work--strategies that once characterized only some low-wage workers such as garment and agriculture--have now spread to virtually every area of industry, including…

Post-Fordism suggests that trade work practices are outmoded and industrial restructuring will improve economic outcomes. This view overlooks an important characteristic of industrial trades--the integrity of the work culture--and is oblivious to the merits of the tradespersons' cultural identity. (SK)

The relationship between satisfaction and need hierarchies as a function of high risk (HR) or low risk (LR) in a job was examined. Results indicated that there were significant differences in satisfaction for a set of 25 job characteristics between HR (N=93) and LR (N=82) workers. In contrast, there were no real differences in need hierarchies for…

This report relates to union workers in five cities, and gives a picture of how the young worker feels about his job, his employer, and his union. (DM)

Holds that some blue/collar workers are at least as critical of the factory as students are of the multiversity." (DM)

Argues that alienation causes indifference among workers which affects production adversely. (DM)

This book contains 16 units with 1 to 6 lessons per unit. A wide range of subject areas regarding workers and organized labor are addressed with lessons for both primary and secondary education levels. Though the focus is predominantly on grades 1-6, the curriculum can be modified to apply to various grade levels. Unit titles include: (1) "Child…

While the building and printing industries flourished in pre-Civil War Columbus, manufacturing languished. The manufacturing base grew and diversified from 1820 to 1850. Few unions emerged, and those that did seldom lasted long. During the Civil War business and manufacturing increased to serve the camps and prisons established in Columbus. When…

These two articles, by Harold Wool and by H. Roy Kaplan, examine a study called "Work in America" which was written by a 10-member task force under the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The authors then present data and discuss ways in which the quality of work in America could be improved. (EJT)

Business and government produced a partnership early in 1968. The government devised a contracting procedure to subsidize the extra costs encountered by private sector employers who would provide jobs and training to persons known to be hard-to-employ. The process was labled Job Opportunities in the Business Sector (JOBS). Simultaneously, some…