Industrial Sociology

Industrial Sociology is the study of the motivations and behaviours of people at the workplace. Many descriptions in this field tend to be nearly anthropological in presentation, as if an outside observer from Mars visited and objectively observed the workings in an office or assembly line. Industrial sociology, until recently a crucial research area within the field of sociology of work, examines "the direction and implications of trends in technological change, globalization, labour markets, work organization, managerial practices and employment relations to the extent to which these trends are intimately related to changing patterns of inequality in modern societies and to the changing experiences of individuals and families the ways in which workers challenge, resist and make their own contributions to the patterning of work and shaping of work institutions." This book presents, in a systematic format, many of the most important empirical studies on the various dimensions of industrial society and assesses their validity for theoretical generalization. Students find the book extremely useful in understanding the essentials of industrial sociology, emphasizing the issues, theories, and data needed to understand work and workplaces in today’s global economy.