Chapter 11: The Economy and Work LECTURE SLIDES
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions Lawrence works as an urban planner for several cities in Florida. According to the text, Lawrence is considered a/an a. information disseminator. b. knowledge worker. c. service worker. d. geographic specialist.
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions Match each economic system with the corresponding details. a. capitalism aa. collective ownership and distribution, government regulated b. socialism bb. no private property, no class distinctions c. communism cc. free market competition, production for profit
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions Most new jobs that are created are in the information sector. a. true b. false
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions Consider the three major theoretical perspectives routinely explored throughout the text. Which theoretical perspective might note that many service workers are tenuously connected to the workforce and thus, hesitate to assert their rights; this tenuous connection, then, warrants them less powerful? a. structural functionalism b. labeling theory c. symbolic interactionism d. conflict theory
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions The various ways workers find to express discontent and cope with their working environments are called a. workplace expression. b. workspace modification. c. resistance strategies. d. collective strategizing.
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions It is possible to express individual agency within bureaucracies and subvert bureaucratic rules and imperatives. a. true b. false
Getting Warmed Up! Lecture Launcher Questions While preparing for a garage sale, Jules notices that most of her grandmother s clothes were made in the United States while most of her own were made overseas. This exemplifies a. workplace variation. b. globalization. c. local commodity chains. d. in-sourcing.
Why Study Economy or Work? An economy deals not only with money but also with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services within a society. This is a major link between individuals (micro) and society (macro).
Historical and Economic Changes In the United States, the economy has changed over time. New technologies have changed the nature of our work. Earliest American economy: pre-sixteenthcentury Native American societies were either mobile hunting-and-gathering societies or horticultural societies (which were based on the domestication of animals, farming, and generating a surplus of resources).
Historical and Economic Changes (cont d) The Agricultural Revolution included social and economic changes, population increases, and increased efficiency of food production.
Historical and Economic Changes (cont d) The Industrial Revolution rapidly transformed social life through technological and economic developments, including the assembly line, steam power, and urbanization. With the shift to a manufacturing economy, vast numbers of people migrated to cities in search of work.
Historical and Economic Changes (cont d) The Information Revolution refers to the recent social revolution made possible by the development of the microchip in the 1970s, which brought about vast improvements in the ability to manage information.
World Economic Systems Capitalism: is an economic system based on the laws of free market competition, privatization of the means of production, and production for a profit, with an emphasis on supply and demand as a means to set price. encourages efficiency, new technologies, the expansion of markets, and cost cutting.
World Economic Systems (cont d) Socialism is an economic system based on the collective ownership of the means of production, collective distribution of goods and services, and government regulation of the economy. Communism is a system of government that eliminates private property and is the most extreme form of socialism because all citizens work for the government and there are no class distinctions.
World Economic Systems (cont d) All nations economies have both capitalist and socialist aspects. For example, the capitalist United States has some socialist economic features, including business subsidies, market regulations, and public aid programs.
On the Nature of Work Before the Industrial Revolution, economic production took place in the household. The birth of the factory led to the workplace and raised new, work-related issues.
On the Nature of Work (cont d) Karl Marx argued that when people lose control over their production and the conditions of production, they become alienated and view work as a means to survive rather than a rewarding activity.
Karl Marx: Alienation Marx believed workers were alienated in four ways: 1. from the product of their labor 2. from their own productive activity 3. from their fellow workers 4. from human nature
On the Nature of Work (cont d) In a postindustrial economy, many workers do service work, which often involves direct contact with clients, customers, patients, or students. Other workers in the postindustrial economy are involved in knowledge work, which involves working with information.
Resistance Strategies Individuals and groups cope with their working conditions in a variety of ways called resistance strategies. Resistance strategies are ways that workers express discontent with their working conditions and try to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor.
Resistance Strategies (cont d) Individual resistance can include using work time to surf the Web, sabotaging an assembly line, and personalizing a workspace with photos. Collective resistance can include membership in a union (an association of workers who bargain collectively for increased wages and benefits and better working conditions).
Globalization, Economics, and Work Globalization refers to the cultural and economic changes resulting from dramatically increased international trade and exchange in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Ranking the World s Economies
Globalization, Economics, and Work (cont d) Transnational corporations are another part of the global economy that transcend national borders so their products can be manufactured, distributed, marketed, and sold from bases all over the world.
Globalization, Economics, and Work (cont d) Companies searches for the cheapest way to produce goods often involves outsourcing or the use of a sweatshop. Outsourcing: contracting out or transferring to another country the labor that a company might otherwise have employed its own staff to perform) Sweatshop: a workplace where workers are subject to below-standard wages, long hours, and poor working conditions
Different Ways of Working The modern economy is characterized by more diverse and specialized jobs, and more temps and freelancers. In a capitalist society, we increasingly rely on a contingent workforce, comprised of people working temporary and freelance positions or as independent contractors. The independent (or third) sector is composed of nonprofit organizations and their workers and volunteers.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz The rapid transformation of social life resulting from the technological and economic developments that began with the assembly line, steam power, and urbanization was called the a. Agricultural Revolution. b. Industrial Revolution. c. Information Revolution. d. American Revolution.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of capitalism? a. It is based on the laws of free market competition. b. It is based on production for a profit. c. It is based on privatization of the means of production. d. It is based on government regulation of the economy.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz Which era began in the 1970s with the development of the microchip, including microprocessors used in computers and other electronic devices? a. Agricultural Revolution b. Industrial Revolution c. Information Revolution d. American Revolution
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz The ways that workers express discontent with their working conditions and try to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor are called a. bureaucratic constraints. b. unions. c. disembodied efforts. d. resistance strategies.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz Annie volunteers at a local fair trade store, which is a nonprofit organization that supports human rights. What part of the economy does Annie support? a. local sector b. independent or third sector c. second sector d. small-profit-margin sector e. nonconglomerate sector
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz Labor unions are best characterized as: a. an individual resistance strategy. b. a collective resistance strategy. c. socialism. d. alienation.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz The dominant form of work in the Postindustrial Age is a. manufacturing work. b. service work. c. knowledge work. d. Volunteering.
The Economy and Work Concept Quiz The contingent workforce has over the past several decades. a. shrunk b. held steady c. increased slightly d. grown exponentially
Chapter 11: Participation Questions Which of the following best describes you outside of class? a. employed full-time b. employed part-time c. not employed
Chapter 11: Participation Questions How often do you volunteer? a. weekly b. monthly c. once or twice per year d. rarely or never
Chapter 11: Participation Questions Have you had any experience with outsourcing (moving of jobs overseas)? a. My job was outsourced. b. Someone I know had their job outsourced. c. I have no experience with outsourcing.
Chapter 11: Participation Questions Have you ever been a participant of the contingent workforce? a. yes b. no
Chapter 11: Data Workshop Activity Refer to the Data Workshop on page 337 to prepare for this activity. We re going to explore the Global Commodity Chain. To start, please take a few moments alone to analyze the things you re carrying with you today: clothes, backpacks, pencils, etc. In groups, we re going to determine where these items came from, and whether they may have been produced in sweatshops. Take notes throughout the process, especially if something surprises you. Be prepared to share your thoughts with the class.
Additional Art for Chapter 11
This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 11. For more learning resources, please visit the StudySpace site for The Real World, 5e at: http://wwnorton.com/studyspace