New forms and meanings of work in an increasingly globalized world
Comprises four lectures which explore reasons for the increase in work intensity during the 20th century and forms of job satisfaction, the meanings of labour market flexibility, the direction of social change and global markets and national employment systems.
This book is based on the 6th ILO Social Policy Lectures, which are endowed with the ILO’s Nobel Peace Prize, held in Tokyo, Japan in December 2003. In keeping with the topics covered in the lecture series, it focuses on the evolution of work and relations at work with special reference to industrial societies.
It draws attention to a perceived trend in industrial societies towards a rising tolerance of inequalities. Gobalization has always been associated with the rise of “market individualism” and a polarization of the workforce. How this trend could be reversed through national economic and social policies is one of the main messages of this volume. Even in this era of globalized markets, each country can still initiate a range of independent policy choices, but as this book points out, the reach and effectiveness of these choices tend to be circumscribed by the economic and cultural hegemony of industrially advanced economies