SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer

1. SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer 18 The Economy and Work

2. 18. The Economy and Work • Economic Systems • Case Study: Capitalism in China • Work and Alienation • The Changing Economy • Social Policy and the Economy

3. Economic Systems • Economic System • A society’s system for producing, distributing, and consuming goods and service will depend on its level of development and its political ideology

4. Economic Systems • Economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands • Main incentive for economic activity is accumulation of profits • Laissez-faire:businesses compete freely with minimal government intervention • Monopoly: exists when a single firm controls the market • Capitalism

5. Economic Systems • Means of production and distribution owned collectively rather than privately owned • Communism: economic system under which all property is communally owned and no social distinctions are made on the base of people’s ability to produce • Socialism

6. Economic Systems • Informal Economy • The transfer of money, goods, or services is not reported to the government, i.e., a haircut in exchange for a computer lesson • Difficult to measure In developing nations, informal economy represents significant part of total economic activity

7. Economic Systems Table 18-1. Characteristics of the Three Major Economic Systems

8. Case Study: Capitalism in China • The Road to Capitalism • The Communist party assumed control of China in 1949, outlawing individual profit-making • By the 1960s, China’s economy dominated by state-controlled enterprises • From the late 1980s to the mid 1990’s, China’s government slowly eased restrictions against private enterprise

9. Case Study: Capitalism in China • The Chinese Economy Today • By 2001, number of state-run companies were cut in half • Chinese capitalists now compete with multinational corporations • In 2003, GM’s Chinese operation was producing 110,000 automobiles a year for Chinese consumers

10. Case Study: Capitalism in China • Chinese Workers in the New Economy • Loosening state control led to rise in job mobility, increased opportunity, and prosperity for family-owned businesses • Struggles include a lag between urban and rural salaries and worker safety Advancement is slower for women in China

11. Work and Alienation • Work and Alienation: Marx’s View • Pioneers of sociological thought concerned about the negative impact of industrialism on the worker Durkheim argued that as labor becomes more and more differentiated, individuals experience anomie, or loss of direction

12. Work and Alienation • Work and Alienation: Marx’s View • Marx believed that as industrialization advanced within capitalist societies, workers lost meaningful relationship with their work • Alienation: condition of estrangement or disassociation from surrounding society • Burnout: Modern form of alienation that may affect any occupation or profession

13. Work and Alienation • Worker Satisfaction • Factors in Job Satisfaction • Higher wages • Shorter work week • Positive relationships with co-workers Ritzer suggested that the relatively positive impression given by many workers is misleading and that manual laborers in particular have little job satisfaction except for their wages

14. Work and Alienation • Worker Satisfaction • Job Satisfaction in Japan • Focus on pride in work rather than wages • The employer-employee relationship is long-term and paramount • Economic recession led to high unemployment Weakened traditional bond between Japanese employer and its workers

15. The Changing Economy • Workforce increasingly composed of women and racial and ethnic minorities • Workforce reflects diversity of population • Relationships between workers more likely to cross gender, racial, and ethnic lines • The Changing Face of the Workface

16. The Changing Economy • Deindustrialization • Systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity • Can take the form of corporate restructuring • Downsizing: reductions taken in a company’s workforce as part of deindustrialization • The Changing Face of the Workface

17. Social Policy and the Economy • Global Offshoring • The Issue • Offshoring—transferring types of work to foreign contractors, is global • In India, 245,000 work in global call centers • In Africa, over 54,000 people work in call centers

18. Social Policy and the Economy • Global Offshoring • The Setting • U.S. first outsourced certain types of work for generations • Offshoring began when U.S. companies transferred manufacturing jobs to foreign factories • By 2015, 3.3 million white-collar jobs worth $136.4 billion will move overseas

19. Social Policy and the Economy • Global Offshoring • Sociological Insights • Offshoring can be viewed as beneficial to society • Conflict theorists question whether offshoring further global inequality • Long-term impact of offshoring in India and developing countries hard to predict

20. Social Policy and the Economy • Global Offshoring • Policy Initiatives • Offshoring a political flashpoint in 2004 presidential election • Most policy makers see offshoring as part of the “natural” process of globalization