Assessing the economic progress of blacks in the United States during the last decade and a half, this special report is divided into eight chapters. Chapter I provides an overview of the report noting the overall conclusion that the economic position of blacks (as well as that of other racial minority groups and of poor whites) is not likely to…

Four key trends will shape the American labor force in the final years of the 20th century. The American economy should grow at a relatively healthy pace. Despite its international comeback, however, U.S. manufacturing constitutes a much smaller share of the economy in the year 2000 than it does today. The work force will grow slowly, becoming…

This book contains nine papers that were presented to the Sociology and Social Policy section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The first paper, "Introduction: Work and Employment in the 1990s" (Richard Brown), puts work and employment in a historical context and examines how globalization of the economy has…

This book, which is based on a 7-month ethnographic study of working conditions and employment practices at a biomedical electronics factory, examines the impact that high tech has had on the relationship between management and workers in the manufacturing industry. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 10 chapters: (1) the…

This book estimates and analyzes the changes currently under way in the U.S. workplace. The book's seven chapters are: (1) "The Pressures To Restructure Employment" (effects of labor law and public policy, increased competitiveness, new markets, financial restructuring, investor pressures, new management techniques, faces and effects of…

This book discusses the evolution of workfare policies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 defines the term "workfare" and examines the concepts of transnationalizing workfare and workfarist labor regulation. Chapter 2 establishes workfare's theoretical context and explores the relationship between welfare…

This book examines trends and problems in Canadian workplaces and advocates a people-centered agenda for improving the quality of working life. Chapters 1-9 discuss the following topics: the future of work; the crisis in work; what Canadians want from work; the "new economy"; education, skills, and the knowledge economy; youth and work;…

This book contains 13 papers on labor market and welfare reform, with special emphasis on the demand for low-wage workers, wages and job characteristics in the less skilled labor market, public politics to increase employment and earnings of less skilled workers, and the impact of welfare reform. The following papers are included: "The Labor…

The lives of working-class women were explored through interviews with 63 middle-aged women, most of whom were employed in working-class jobs and living working-class lives in Baltimore, Maryland. The following were among the areas covered in the interviews: the women's lives on and off the job; their job satisfaction; the reasons they work and…

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the rise of free agent workers, how free agency is transforming the lives of free agents and those around them, problems encountered by free agents, and the future of free agency. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 19 chapters: (1) the numbers and nuances of free agency; (2)…