Soc 311

Sociology of Work

Why Do People Work?

What benefits do they receive by working?

What costs do they incur?

Why do some people work while others don’t?

How Do People Feel About Their Work and Why? “Disenchantment with Work is Growing.

What Can be Done About It?”

“Employers Spying on Staff: Big Brother Bosses – More Than Ever, Companies Want to Know What Their Employees Are Up To!”

Instructor

Cliff Donn

Office Hours

Tuesday 9:00-11:30, 4:00-4:30 Thursday 9:30-11:30

Course Requirements

Read syllabus for next time

Examine course home page for next time

We’ll discuss requirements in greater detail and examine what options students have

Note attendance and tardiness policies

No Valley Girl Speech in Soc 311!

Next Time

Film

Snacks

Introduction Continued

Class 2

Administrative

Where are we in the reading? Make sure you are keeping up!

Journals

Assignment described on home page including schedule Begin September 20 Scholars of Sociology Questions?

Administrative

Attendance – most off to good start but a few are not

Those who added late have already missed their allotment of classes

Cell phone policy

Review – “Office Space”

What does this movie have to say about work in the modern age?

Sources of authority at work? Social structure at work? Norms at work? Similarity and Differences between the

software firm and the restaurant?

Next Time

Make sure you have completed the reading for the introductory section

We’ll talk about the critique assignments Come prepared to talk about your work

experience and prepared to compare to the work experiences of those you read about in the Terkel book

Introduction Continued

Administrative

Reading for next time – Jacoby Critiques

What are they? When due? See syllabus What am I looking for? Don’t choose the shortest readings! Not enough material

and makes for poor critiques if they are only a couple of pages long

Greater detail on course home page under assignments link

Terkel – Working

Who likes their job the most? What do they like about it?

Who likes their job the least? What do they dislike about it?

Your Work Experience

Most recent job you’ve had or the job you did the longest?

What was it? What was the best part? What was the worst part? Would you be willing to do it again? Would you be willing to do it for your career?

William Faulkner

"You can't eat for eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours a day - all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy"

Frederick Harbison

"The industrial worker, for the most part, works harder than he likes, at tasks which are frequently arduous, usually monotonous, and sometimes dangerous. On the job, he is nearly always subject to the direction of higher authority. His income is seldom sufficient to cover what he thinks his needs demand. The natural state of the industrial worker, therefore, is one of discontent."

Next Time

Historical Background