Sociology: work & labour

This agenda-setting book argues that the process of market integration in Europe has undermined the power and influence of European workers and generated significant human costs. In starting from the position of labour, this book offers an alternative approach which balances the needs of justice and efficiency.

This interdisciplinary collection addresses women's under-representation in science across Europe, focusing on physics and its gender imbalance. Emphasising social perspectives over biological explanations, it evaluates policy solutions and shares personal life stories, providing key insights into the physics world.

Social marginalisation due to changing labour markets in a global, knowledge-intensive economy poses a major challenge to international welfare states. Addressing the problem from a citizenship perspective, this book contributes significantly to the understanding of policy problems and the development of appropriate strategies.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Led by the disability movement’s concern with the employment choices faced by disabled people, this controversial book uses sociological and philosophical approaches, as well as international examples, to critically engage with possible alternatives to paid work for disabled people.

This book injects a fresh burst of energy into the sociology of work, offering an invigorating perspective that's both vibrant and deeply informed. Bringing the field up to date, leading sociology of work scholar Marek Korczynski offers an enlightening exploration of sociology of work, as well as the evolving world of work itself.

It is often argued that the regulated labour markets, relatively generous social protection and relative wage equality of European welfare states has become counter-productive in a globalised and knowledge-intensive economy. Using in-depth analysis of employment, welfare and citizenship in a range of European states, this book challenges this view.

Drawing on case studies from Germany, Britain and Spain, this book offers a novel assessment of post-industrial action. Gallas explores key issues around union activities, class relations and struggles around unwaged work and brings class theory back to labour studies with a class-sensitive analysis of capitalism.

Advancing a class-centred approach, this book provides an account of the evolution of social security and employment policy and governance in Britain between 1973 and 2023.

This book offers insights into the argument that capitalist society damages human health and well-being. Drawing on and bringing Marx’s theory of alienation forward to the present day, it uniquely links it to well-being.

Using the example of Turkey, where neoliberal economics combined with authoritarian politics formed conditions that have profound social consequences, this book investigates Alternative Consumer Cooperatives (ACCs) as spaces for prefigurative food politics.

Drawing on a range of perspectives, this international collection goes beyond a sole focus on public sector work to uniquely cover the impact of austerity on work across the private, public and voluntary spheres.

An international comparison of labour markets, migrant professionals and immigration policies, and their interaction in relation to social work.