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Book part
Publication date: 5 July 2005

David Kristjanson-Gural

This paper seeks to reconcile two very different views existing in the literature concerning how exchange and demand affect the magnitude of commodity values. Traditionally, value…

Abstract

This paper seeks to reconcile two very different views existing in the literature concerning how exchange and demand affect the magnitude of commodity values. Traditionally, value is considered to be created in production and subsequently realized in exchange. An alternative monetary approach posits that exchange itself contributes to the determination of commodity values. Proponents of each view claim that significant parts of Marx’s theory of value are compromised if their interpretation of the role of exchange is not adopted. Drawing on the work of Rosdolsky and Roberts, I argue that it is necessary to distinguish between the effects of exchange and demand. Exchange acts to reduce concrete, private labor to abstract social labor, while demand affects the magnitude of labor considered “socially necessary” in the sense of being expended in accordance with existing social need. I identify a new category of exchange value – the market-price of production – and use it to explain how changes in demand act to redistribute value across industries by affecting the magnitude of abstract labor considered to be socially necessary. In this way the major claim of the two approaches to exchange are reconciled. The magnitude of value is fully determined in production. At the same time monetary exchange effects, or brings about, a social division of labor by reducing concrete, private labor to abstract social labor and by distributing value according to social need as expressed by effective demand.

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The Capitalist State and Its Economy: Democracy in Socialism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-176-7

Book part
Publication date: 12 August 2009

Paul Close

The sociology of childhood is fraught with problems, not least those centred on the idea, notion or concept of ‘childhood’, and in particular, the issue of how to define…

Abstract

The sociology of childhood is fraught with problems, not least those centred on the idea, notion or concept of ‘childhood’, and in particular, the issue of how to define, distinguish and identify ‘childhood’ for sociological purposes. The study, analysis and understanding of childhood hinge upon how ‘childhood’ is defined, either explicitly or implicitly, one problem being the plethora of quite diverse approaches in both popular and sociological discourses. While there cannot be a correct definition of ‘childhood’, there can be a best definition, such as for sociological purposes, those of making sense of ‘childhood’ in particular and of social life, relationships and experience in general.

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Structural, Historical, and Comparative Perspectives
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-732-1

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1983

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of

16274

Abstract

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

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Management Decision, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 June 2014

This chapter is about the modern, Western education system as an economic system of production on behalf of the capitalist mode of production (CMP) and globalization towards a…

Abstract

This chapter is about the modern, Western education system as an economic system of production on behalf of the capitalist mode of production (CMP) and globalization towards a single, global social space around market capitalism, liberal democracy and individualism.

The schooling process is above all an economic process, within which educational labour is performed, and through which the education system operates in an integrated fashion with the (external) economic system.

It is mainly through children’s compulsory educational labour that modern schooling plays a part in the production of labour power, supplies productive (paid) employment within the CMP, meets ‘corporate economic imperatives’, supports ‘the expansion of global corporate power’ and facilitates globalization.

What children receive in exchange for their appropriated and consumed labour power within the education system are not payments of the kind enjoyed by adults in the external economy, but instead merely a promise – the promise enshrined in the Western education industry paradigm.

In modern societies, young people, like chattel slaves, are compulsorily prevented from freely exchanging their labour power on the labour market while being compulsorily required to perform educational labour through a process in which their labour power is consumed and reproduced, and only at the end of which as adults they can freely (like freed slaves) enter the labour market to exchange their labour power.

This compulsory dispossession, exploitation and consumption of labour power reflects and reinforces the power distribution between children and adults in modern societies, doing so in a way resembling that between chattel slaves and their owners.

Abstract

Details

Constructing Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-546-4

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 February 2018

Renato Koch Colomby, Andrea Poleto Oltramari and Maria Beatriz Rodrigues

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of work from eight different and subsidiary perspectives: physiological, cultural, spiritual, ideological, economic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of work from eight different and subsidiary perspectives: physiological, cultural, spiritual, ideological, economic, political, legal and psychosocial.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on an exploratory quantitative survey with a probability sample composed of 407 cases. The bibliographic review resulted from several readings about the phenomenon of work and the impacts arising from these different perspectives.

Findings

The analysis of the data collected confirmed that the meaning and the sense of work are multifaceted. The authors also found that work is an important source of reflection and learning in people’s life. The research instrument promoted thinking and analysis of the participants’ careers. The research process resulted in mutual and interactive learning of investigators and investigation.

Research limitations/implications

The data collection came from a single source: a written questionnaire. This limits the scope of the data and raises interpretative discussion concerning the contents of the answers. For future reference, the authors suggest to complement it with different techniques of data collection, associating qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Practical implications

The main contributions of the paper are, on the one hand, the effort of synthetizing and recording eight different categories of analysis of the multiple and possible meanings of work, which were elaborated using the available literature, and on the other hand, to understand and analyze those categories using the perception of a numerically meaningful sample of the public, coming from different backgrounds.

Social implications

The purpose of this paper is to propose a guideline for future studies so that they could choose with increased awareness the initial perspectives at the basis of the analyses. This study could encourage continuity and provide greater incentives on this increasingly relevant subject.

Originality/value

After analyzing the data, it was acknowledged that work cannot be seen from a single perspective, but it must be viewed in its multifaceted character and sense. The published material on the meanings of work usually focuses on specific professions and careers, the authors argue that this fact limits the scope of perspectives and interpretations of the phenomenon.

Details

Revista de Gestão, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2177-8736

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 January 2021

Nik. Brandal and Øivind Bratberg

In the 1990s, European social democrats coalesced around a set of principles often referred to as the third way – characterised by prudent economic governance, a slimmer public…

Abstract

In the 1990s, European social democrats coalesced around a set of principles often referred to as the third way – characterised by prudent economic governance, a slimmer public sector, ‘productive’ welfare services and attraction to inward investment. Third way proponents perceived fairness as supporting opportunity rather than redistributing welfare. On the way to the late 2000s, their sense of direction was lost. The final phase, one might argue, ended with the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Henceforth, the challenge for the Left concerned how to define a social democracy with less revenue and limited scope for expanding public services, while reaching out to the so-called left-behinds through better jobs and a renewed sense of common purpose.

Jeremy Corbyn and Emmanuel Macron represent two distinctly different attempts at forging a new way forward from the impasse. During Corbyn's tenure as a leader (2015–2020), Labour carved out space by moving leftwards on key economic policies while proffering communitarianism as the antidote to globalised capitalism. Across the English Channel, Macron's new party, La République En Marche, sought to generate a new form of politics that had clear similarities with the centrism of third way social democracy, supplemented by an emphasis on social dialogue and enhanced European integration as a strategy for harnessing globalisation.

Corbynism and Macronism represent two distinct attempts at centre-left renewal, both personalised yet evolving on the back of mass movements. This chapter summarises the trajectory of both in terms of ideological content and organisational change and asks what lessons they convey about the future of social democracy in the twenty-first century.

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Social Democracy in the 21st Century
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-953-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1985

P.K. Edwards

Recent trends in industrial relations do not include a systematic attack on union organisation, according to evidence gathered during a survey of British manufacturing plants…

Abstract

Recent trends in industrial relations do not include a systematic attack on union organisation, according to evidence gathered during a survey of British manufacturing plants (base size: 250 full‐time employees) from the food, drink and tobacco, chemical, electrical engineering, textiles, paper printing and publishing sectors. Industrial relations remain important to senior managers as well as personnel managers. The apparent rise in a consultative approach suggests a move away from industrial relations in the traditional sense of bargaining with unions. Though labour relations remain important, this is in the wider sense of managing labour and securing workers' compliance with managerial aims. (First part of a two‐part article.)

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Employee Relations, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 January 2022

Andrea Fischbach and Benjamin Schneider

Purpose: Work-related emotional exposure is a fundamental job characteristic in all kinds of service jobs from sales to law enforcement and corrections and from human services…

Abstract

Purpose: Work-related emotional exposure is a fundamental job characteristic in all kinds of service jobs from sales to law enforcement and corrections and from human services (nursing, counseling) to legal services. But formalized job descriptions are surprisingly silent about the emotional issues accompanying the jobs and roles service workers perform. This is surprising because formalized job descriptions are the foundation of job design, HR, and leadership practices that positively affect employee, customer, and organizational outcomes. Study Design/Methodology/Approach: This is a theory paper and review. To help clarify the emotional labor issues service employees confront, we explicate a model of emotional labor based on the attributes of jobs, roles, and professionalism. Findings: We define emotional labor as service work that exposes those who do such work to interactions with others that can arouse negative emotions. We propose that, while employing organizations define their jobs and employees craft their larger roles, professional norms and values also are a foundation for their emotional labor. Research Implications: We integrate this work-focused emotional labor model into the larger context in which such work occurs via theory and research on organizational climate. We suggest future research on this approach to understanding the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor work. We summarize the major research ideas of what should be the focus of such research and provide a hint about what an emotional labor climate scale might look like based on these ideas. Practical Implications: This chapter offers practical advice to HR managers about how to improve emotional labor. Social Implications: Better management of emotional labor can reduce employee stress and increase employee well-being. Originality/Value: This chapter develops an original model of emotional labor.

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Emotions and Negativity
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-200-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 June 2014

This chapter pulls together the main strands of Child Labour in Global Society, and addresses their implications for the sociological study of children’s lives, schooling and…

Abstract

This chapter pulls together the main strands of Child Labour in Global Society, and addresses their implications for the sociological study of children’s lives, schooling and slavery.

In popular and scholarly discourses there is a tendency to emphasize the differences between the social lives of children and those of adults rather than the similarities and continuities; to misrepresent children’s social activities in comparison with those of adults; to rationalize the differential way in which children’s social activities and participation are assessed and rewarded relative to those of adults; and to fortify children’s actual and/or assumed marginal situation in modern society.

There are sociological gains to be had from emphasizing the comparable features and structural links between ‘childhood’ and ‘adulthood’ due especially to the common participation of children and adults in productive labour.

The way in which children’s social activities are differentially assessed and rewarded is reflected in how children are denied full citizenship rights, and so are non-citizens.

In particular, children are denied the right to freely exchange their labour power on the labour market.

While viewing educational labour as forced labour does not sit well with ideas about children and childhood in modern society, doing so is consistent with the element of compulsion in for instance the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Being compulsorily required to perform educational labour is indicative of how in modern societies children are owned and in slavery, not just of the de facto kind, but also of the de jure kind.

Details

Child Labour in Global Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-780-1

Keywords

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