This collection of original essays investigates the social, political, and economic transformations associated with the emergence of the so-called new economy, and their impact on the organization of work within Canada. Essays in the book discuss the ways in which new management strategies, new communication technologies, and efforts to revitalize the labour movement have transformed the Canadian workplace. Focusing on changes in work organization, individuals' expectations regarding work, and the institutional support provided for workers and their families, the text constructs a critical analysis of the "new economy" in order to identify both the potential for quality work experiences and the ways in which the organization of work remains a profound social problem.  

Comments:

"Interrogating the New Economy explores how work is changing and what this means for workers and their communities. It focuses on a simple question: How do the workplaces of the early twenty-first century differ from those of previous eras? The book will be useful for undergraduate courses exploring work, as well as for anyone interested in what is happening to Canadian workplaces." - Wayne Lewchuk, McMaster University

"Investigating the varied and complex developments that have resulted in the reshaping of work and the intensification of longstanding inequalities in twenty-first-century Canada, this collection challenges outdated notions of a universal worker, offering a glimpse of work organization, management, and worker militancy through the eyes of call-centre employees, student workers, migrant labourers, miners, and a range of service and public-sector workers. It will be of value to academics and activists alike." - Pam Sugiman, Ryerson University

Norene J. Pupo is Director of the Centre for Research on Work and Society (CRWS) at York University. She is the author of many books on the sociology of work, including The Part-Time Paradox (McClelland & Stewart, 1992) and Few Choices: Women, Work and Family (Garamond, 1989). 

Mark P. Thomas is Associate Professor of Sociology at York University. He is the author of Regulating Flexibility: The Political Economy of Employment Standards (McGill-Queen's, 2009).

Table of Contents: [Back to Top]

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Work in the New Economy: Critical Reflections, Norene Pupo and Mark Thomas  

Part I. Changing Structures and Processes in the New Economy

1. The "New Economy" and Capitalism Today, Greg Albo
2. Work, Welfare, and the New Economy: The Commodification of Everything, Dave Broad and Garson Hunter
3. Restructuring Work and Labour Markets in the New Economy: Four Processes, Wallace Clement, Sophie Mathieu, Steven Prus, and Emre Uckardesler
4. Global Restructuring of Value Chains and Class Issues, Ursula Huws and Simone Dahlmann

Part II. Transformations in Work and Labour Processes

5. Labour Casualization in the Public Sector, Jane Stinson
6. Dialling for Service: Transforming the Public-Sector Workplace in Canada, Norene Pupo and Andrea Noack
7. Student Workers and the "New Economy" of  Mid-Sized Cities: The Cases of Peterborough and Kingston, Ontario, Steven Tufts and John Holmes
8. Labour Migration and Temporary Work: Canada's Foreign Worker Programs in the "New Economy," Mark Thomas
9. Scripting Taste, Marking Distinction: Wine Tourism and Post-Fordist Restructuring in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Luis L.M. Aguiar and Tina Marten
10. Regeneration among Coal-Mining Communities in Canada and UK: The Role of Culture, Larry Haiven

Part III. Unions and Forms of Resistance

11. Militancy and Resistance in the New Economy, Linda Briskin
12. Labour Fragmentation and New Forms of Organizing and Bargaining in the Service Sector, Dale Clark and Rosemary Warskett

Glossary of Terms

Notes on Contributors  

References

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