Restructuring work and the life course

Marshall, Victor W

University of Toronto Press, 2001 - Social Science - 544 pages

Major economic, technological and demographic forces are combining to influence the ways in which the very structures of people's lives are changed by the work they do. The major defining features of life course, including patterns of entry to and exit from work, are shifting, as is the very nature of jobs and careers. In this multidisciplinary collection of essays, forty-eight social scientists from seven countries examine changes in the organization of work and their impact on people at various stages of the life course.

In seeking to consolidate and advance life course theory, the four editors of this volume have sought out and encouraged a wide range of approaches to life course theorizing, methodologies, and research designs. The contributing scholars examine the influence of economic, technological, and demographic forces on public, corporate, and union policies concerning the organisation of work. The topics covered include: education, labour market change, and transitions in the earlier and middle stages of the working life course; later life transitions in relation to the restructuring of work, and retirement transitions; and various aspects of the relationship between individual biography and social structure, with close attention to gender and family issues over the life course.

Contents

• A CosmopolitanLocal Perspective: 3
• PART ONE Education Labour Market and Transitions in: 23
• Youth Transitions and the New World f Work: 29
• Trends in Overeducation: 45
• The Transition from Vocational Training to Employment: 61
• The Movement: 84
• Changing Lifecourse: 142
• Full Time or Part Time? The Contradictory Integration of: 159
• Unemployment and Its Consequences for Mental Health: 177
• Family Turningpoints and Career Transitions at Midlife: 201
• Restructuring Work and the Transition: 229
• Gender Differences in Transitions to Totalwork Retirement: 258
• Findings from: 270
• Is There Life after Career Employment? Labourmarket Experience: 288
• Generational and Lifecourse Patterns of Occupational Retrench: 319
• Changing Working Patterns and the PublicPrivate Mix: 332
• Japans Current Policy Focus on Longer Employment: 348
• The Career Break as an Alternative to Earlyexit Schemes: 360
• What Role: 375
• Work Family and Gender: 424
• Some Theoretical Questions: 446
• Work: 462
• Lifecourse Experiences of: 473
• Structure and Agency in Young: 489
• A Longitudinal Analysis of: 505
• A Historical Perspective: 525
• CONTRIBUTORS: 540

About the author

Victor W. Marshall is Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Director, University of North Carolina Institute on Aging. Walter Heinz is co-chair of the Life Course Centre, University of Bremen. Helga Krueger is Professor of Sociology and co-chair of the Life Course Centre, University of Bremen.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Restructuring work and the life course; G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series
• Editor: Marshall, Victor W
• Contributor: Marshall, Victor W
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0802082424, 9780802082428
• Length: 544 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; Social Science / Sociology / General