Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-255).

Contents
List of Tables ix
Preface and Acknowledgments x
1. Introduction 1
Theory and concepts as tools 2
Theoretical outlook 3
The structure of the book 9
2. Some Concepts with Which to Start 13
The labor market: hiring labor power 14
Three aspects of labor power 15
The commodity status of labor power 17
Jobs and occupations 20
The employment contract 23
Capitalist and non-capitalist labor markets 25
The ‘marketness’ of labor markets 26
Capitalist labor markets 27
Modes, relations, and forces of production 28
Public sector employment 31
The issue of a state mode of production 31
Other non-capitalist sectors 33
Commodification and decommodification 35
3. Labor Market Divisions 39
Spatial divisions 40
Occupations, sectors, and segments 44
Occupational divisions 44
The significance of sector 45
Labor market segments 48
Class divisions 52
The classics 54
Two recent accounts 57
Where does this take us? 62
Gender and other divisions 64
4. Actors and Interactions 67
Employers and jobseekers 68
Processes of selection 69
Discrimination and selection 72
Employers and workers 73
The principal–agent perspective 73
Work organization and work orientation 76
Work control and reactions to it 79
Direction and the indeterminacy of jobs 80
Work control 81
Sanctions 84
Collective organizations and action 86
The formation of a workers’ collective 87
Collective action and the role of unions 88
Monopolization 92
The state 93
Theoretical considerations 93
State intervention in the labor market 96
5. The Commodity Status of Labor Power 99
The functioning of the economy 100
Processes in the labor market 100
Labor power’s use value 101
Avoiding employment 104
The development of self-employment 106
Family-related mechanisms 107
The role of the state 109
Social insurance 110
Labor market policy 113
Workfare 116
The state as employer 118
A complex set of mechanisms 119
6. Age of Services, Information, and Globalization 122
The expansion of the service sector 123
The service concept 124
Post-industrial theory and services 125
The age of information and knowledge 127
The concepts of information and knowledge 127
Post-industrial theory and knowledge 128
The idea of post-capitalism 132
Informational society 133
Globalization and internationalization 138
Post-industrial theory and globalization/internationalization 138
Conceptual considerations 141
Globalization, information technology, and competition 144
New times, new labor market relations? 149
Changes in the composition of jobs and jobholders 149
Changes in the balance of power 151
7. The Individual–Collective Aspect of Employment Relationships 154
De-collectivization 155
Explaining the decline in union density 157
The individualization thesis 160
The labor market as motor of individualization 163
Being ‘entrepreneur of the self’ 165
The individualization thesis under scrutiny 166
Historical comparisons 167
The class issue 168
Collectivistic and individualistic values 170
The question of social integration 171
The social dimension of employment relationships 173
Work as collective effort 173
Social comparisons 176
The drive toward professionalization 178
Pulling together 180
8. Labor Market Flexibility 183
The concept of labor market flexibility 184
Potential and actual adjustment 185
A conceptual scheme 187
Units of analysis 188
Types of flexibility 189
Issues of flexibility 191
Employment flexibility 191
Temporary work agencies 195
Work process flexibility 196
Work tasks 196
Work intensity 198
Working time flexibility 198
Hours worked 199
Work schedules 199
Workplace or spatial flexibility 200
Wage flexibility 201
Recruitment 201
Performance 202
Flexibility mixes and conflicting interests 202
9. Unemployment, Marginalization, and Employment Prospects 205
Unemployment and marginalization 206
Issues of unemployment and marginalization 211
The notions of ‘two-third society’ and ‘Brazilianization’ 213
The end of wage-work? 217
The proposal of a citizenship income 221
Employment prospects 225
10. Labor Market Continuity and Change 228
Three types of change 231
Accounting for continuity and change 232
Considering continuity 232
Considering change as to jobs and jobholders 235
Considering change in power relations 236
Too much of ‘end-of’ theses 238
References 241
Index 256