Social Problems

1. WORK

1.1. Why is work considered to be a social problem? Because of:

1.1.1. Control of workers:

scientific management (Taylorization)

speeding up manufacturing work, and making jobs more specialized, Bureaucracy

Extortion- if workers become too demanding employers can threaten them with hiring cheaper labor

(marx) without satisfaction or personal fulfillment, work becomes meaning less and resented

1.1.2. Alienation (What is alienation and in which sectors is it more likely to occur?).

Alienation- separation of humans from one another and their products. i.e. assembly line-the worker does not have any product to be proud of. only the one screw they turned.

1.1.3. Dangerous working conditions (employers want to increase profits while lowering the production costs).

OSHA (occupational safety and health administration) made to make work safer

1.1.4. Sweatshops (Definition?)

substandard work environment where workers are paid less than minimum wage and are overworked.

most often in garment industry

(c) Outsourcing of work

US imports sweatshop goods, since it is cheaper.

1.1.5. Union decline (their loss of power since the early 1980s);

Causes for the decline in union membership;

assault on unions by Reagan and Bush

public opinion of unions negative; public opinion is generally pro-business, not pro-employee

Consequences of the decline in unions.

loss of rights

workplaces less safe

dwindling of middle class

1.1.6. Workplace discrimination:

segmentation of the labor market (dual-labor market),

product of capitalist economy; made up of primary and secondary economic sectors

primary: high status upper tier jobs and working class lower tier jobs

secondary: jobs where product demand is unstable

these have poor conditions, low wages, low security, and little room for advancement

gender inequality (male dominance)

results from a patriarchal society both at work and at home

women hired for lower status jobs than men

Unemployment “the reserve army of unemployed” –

composition

largely people of color, teenagers, and residents in declining cities

functions for the capitalist economy

reduces inflationary pressure, increases profits, lowers wages

1.2. Globalization and the transformation of the U.S. economy

low wage jobs are moved outside the country

lower profits since competition forces them to lower their prices

1.2.1. Industrial Revolution as a turning point; Since the 1950s, deindustrialization of the American economy.

1.2.2. Globalization (definition) and interconnectedness;

Capital flight; operating US businesses in developing countries because its cheaper

Declining of the manufacturing jobs and downsizing of the corporate America.

1.2.3. From manufacturing to services (knowledge as the main capital);

demand for workers shifting from physical ability to cognitive ability; therefore the service economy benefits the well educated.

Offshoring and outsourcing;

Sunset industries- fading in importance

Sunrise industries- increased output and employment

1.3. Age of discontinuity

Internet changing how business is transacted

1.3.1. Job insecurity (mergers and downsizing; Affected groups)

women have more job insecurity than men; black more than white; heightened by mergers and corporate downsizing

1.3.2. Benefits insecurity (the risk of old-age and ill health is placed on workers)

1.3.3. Increased workload

many more workers work 50+ hours/week now than in the past. Latinos and Blacks more so than Whites

1.3.4. Lowered compensation for workers (wages have remained stagnant or gone down); Causes for depressing the wages of workers; Minimum compensation provides income below the poverty level

1.3.5. Changing demography (with serious economic implications);

The aging of the baby boomers; supply of workers will not meet the demand

the replacement of workers by advanced technologies

1.4. Economic transformation and bifurcation

1.4.1. Change in workforce has positive effects

innovation leads to rapid growth

manual to mental labor

fewer workers needed to produce needed goods

jobs are being created