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Work and Idleness

The Political Economy of Full Employment

  • Book
  • © 1998

Overview

Editors:
  1. Jane Wheelock

    1. University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. John Vail

    1. University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Recent Economic Thought (RETH, volume 66)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    1. A Feasible Capitalist Response to A Changing Political Economy

      • Jane Wheelock, John Vail
      Pages 1-20

  3. Theories of Full Employment

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21
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    2. A Keynesian View of The Redistribution of Work

      • John Wells
      Pages 23-50

    3. Neo-Classical Perspectives on Unemployment and Labour Supply: The Macro Environment and Micro Responses

      • Tim Barmby, Martin Robson
      Pages 51-67

    4. Whose Full Employment? A Feminist Perspective on Work Redistribution

      • Irene Bruegel, Deborah M Figart, Ellen Mutari
      Pages 69-83

    5. A Green Approach to Work And Idleness

      • Christer Sanne
      Pages 85-96

  4. Who Needs Work?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 97-97
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    2. Crap Jobs, ‘Govy Schemes’ and ‘Trainspotting’: Reassessing The Youth, Employment and Idleness Debate

      • Robert Hollands
      Pages 99-117

    3. Managing The End of Occupational Life

      • Geneviève Reday-Mulvey
      Pages 119-129

    4. Working Opportunities For Disabled People

      • Neil Lunt, Patricia Thornton
      Pages 131-142

    5. Reducing The Burden of Work on Women?

      • Rachel Woodward
      Pages 143-154

  5. Blueprints For Action

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 155-155
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    2. The US Model: The Wages of Inequality

      • Jared Bernstein, Lawrence Mishel, John Schmitt
      Pages 157-181

    3. ‘The Cult of Training’; Unemployment and Capitalist Employment Policy

      • Gregory Albo
      Pages 183-203

    4. Redistributing Work: The Role of The Welfare State

      • David Purdy
      Pages 205-217

    5. Working Time in Europe: Current Trends

      • Giuseppe Fajertag
      Pages 219-233

    6. Social Labour and Democratic Capital: The Margins or The Mainstream?

      • Hilary Wainwright, Paul Gosling
      Pages 235-252

    7. The Feasible Utopia of A Redistribution of Work: Radical Alternatives For Full Employment

      • John Vail
      Pages 253-283

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 285-329
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Keywords

About this book

Work and Idleness develops the view that redistributing employment is a `feasible capitalist' solution, not just to the unemployment which particular groups suffer, but also to the work that others have to contend with, including many women. Putting the redistribution of employment on the policy agenda opens up debate on how to ensure a more equitable and fulfilling relationship between the ways we gain our livelihoods and the lives we lead.
Growing insecurity in labour markets and changing patterns in the commodification of labour have led to a redistribution of paid and unpaid labour time as the structure of power relations, the gender order, discrimination, and state regulation have been modified. The first main trend affecting insecurity is mass unemployment and the growth of workless households. A second notable trend is a gender-based redistribution of hours worked. The third major trend is a shift from full-time waged work to full-time self-employment.
Part I of this book presents the main economic theories driving the continuing divide between the intensification of work and the extension of idleness. Part II documents the ways in which the shift to mass idleness in advanced industrial countries has hit some groups particularly hard: the youngest and oldest age groups and other groups, including disabled workers, have traditionally been subject to discrimination in the labor markets. Part III provides a set of policy prescriptions.

Editors and Affiliations

  • University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Jane Wheelock, John Vail

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Work and Idleness

  • Book Subtitle: The Political Economy of Full Employment

  • Editors: Jane Wheelock, John Vail

  • Series Title: Recent Economic Thought

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4397-4

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1998

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-8390-1Published: 30 November 1998

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-010-5889-6Published: 26 November 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-4397-4Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0924-199X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 329

  • Topics: Labor Economics, History of Economic Thought/Methodology, Microeconomics

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