Making Work More Equal

Changes in production systems, economic conditions and regulatory conditions are posing new questions about the growing use by employers of precarious forms of work, the contradictory approaches of governments towards employment and social policy, and the ability of trade unions to improve the distribution of decent employment conditions. Designed as a tribute to the highly influential contributions of Jill Rubery, the book proposes a 'new labour market segmentation approach' for the investigation of issues of job quality, employment inequalities, and precarious work. This approach is distinctive in seeking to place the changing international patterns and experiences of labour market inequalities in the wider context of shifting gender relations, regulatory regimes and production structures. The book brings together contributions from many of the world's leading experts on employment trends. Part one offers conceptual chapters addressing questions of societal analysis, the standard employment relationship, inter-organisational employment relations, worker voice and 'fragmented working time'. Part two offers a series of empirical chapters addressing key topics across different countries, including: labour market dualism in Spain, new forms of commodified employment in Italy, work intensification in the UK, China's new two-child policy, and women's roles in the family and in work following the Black Death plague in fourteenth century England. Part three explores evidence of convergence and divergence across countries and identifies new policy approaches towards the ever-changing patterns of inequalities in work and employment in countries around the world.