Sociology of Work
Code: 101151 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sociology | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Oriol Barranco Font
- Email:
- oriol.barranco@uab.cat
Teachers
- Mireia Bolibar Planas
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
None specific
Objectives and Contextualisation
The subject aims to promote knowledge and critical reflection around work, understood in a broad sense, within the framework of contemporary developed societies. Work is understood as a social relationship that defines situations and processes of inequality. It is therefore of interest to highlight the different socio-organizational dimensions that frame work and work activity, the groups and social actors that participate and their strategies. Finally, the mastery of basic statistical and documentary tools and sources on the subject is also a central objective of the subject. These objectives, linked to the specific content of the subject, are complemented with the aim of promoting the autonomous and cooperative learning capacity of the students.
Competences
- Analysing the problems arising from the implementation of public policies and conflict situations by recognising the complexity of the social phenomena and political decisions affecting democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
- Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
- Assessing the contributions of sociological approaches to the study of culture, education, interaction between society and environment, social policy, and work.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
- Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Learning Outcomes
- Comparing the meanings of several theoretical approaches about labour, employment and industrial relations.
- Defining the sociological concepts that interpret labour, employment and industrial relations.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Distinguishing sociological concepts about labour, employment and industrial relations adopted by the actors involved in these policies and conflicts.
- Distinguishing sociological concepts, as well as the methods and techniques of social investigation commonly used to analyse labour.
- Distinguishing the explanations of labour inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups that these actors take for granted.
- Expressing the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to labour.
- Identifying the social interpretations of work according with these approaches.
- Identifying the underlying social phenomena of labour policies and conflicts.
- Relating the concepts, methods and techniques used to analyse labour with general theoretical and methodological debates.
- Relating the explanations of labour inequalities with general theoretical and methodological debates.
- Relating them with the debates about capitalism, power and inequality.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Content
First part: INTRODUCTION to the conceptual framework
Perspectives and approaches. An interdisciplinary dialogue. Sociology of Work. Industrial and Business Sociology. Sociology of Industrial Relations. Economic Sociology.
The object of the Sociology of Work. The plurality of meanings of work. The social construction of work: work in different cultures. The centrality of work in the Western moderntity. Work and employment: historical models. The reconceptualization of work today.
Conceptual framework: Definition of work, occupation and profession. Definitions and statistical measures of employment (EPA, INEM and other sources).
Second part: DIVISIONS OF LABOR
Technical division of work. Rationalization of work in capitalism. Technical division: thesis of control versus thesis of productivity. The division of work in the classics: Marx (alienation), Durkheim (anomie) and Weber (rationalization).The principles of Taylorism and Fordism. The fordist socio-productive model or teh reformed capitalism. Social, trade union and labor implications of Taylorism-Fordism: employment standards, social citizenship rights and social cohesion.
Sexual division of labor. Productive work and reproductive work. Gender and inequality in the labor market. Production and reproduction as interdependent areas. Models of reproduction in advanced capitalism.
International Division of labor. Center and periphery asymmetries. Globalization and effects on employment and labor relations.
Technological innovations and employment
Third part: SOCIOLOGY OF EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR MARKET
Crisis of work-employment and transformations of the Fordist socio-productive model. The transformations of employment. The precariousness of employment. Reforms in the collective bargaining system.
The object of Sociology of employment. A dialogue between sociology and economics. The dialogue between economics and sociology in relation to the labor market. Definition of the labor market in classical and neoclassical economic theory. The limits of neoclassical theory. Institutionalist and Marxist theories of the labor market. The theoretical bases of segmentation.
Industrial relations. definition The social actors: trade unions, employers and the State. Conflict in labor relations. Collective bargaining as a generator of rules. Labor relations in the Spanish State.
Crisis of work-employment and transformations of the Keynesian-Fordist model of accumulation. The transformations of employment. The precariousness of employment. Reforms in the collective bargaining system.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| DIRECTED AND INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES | 86 | 3.44 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 14 |
| Lectures discussing | 6 | 0.24 | 1, 2, 3, 12, 14 |
| Practicum | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 10, 12, 14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Individual supervision | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 16, 11, 10, 14 |
| Paper discussion | 16 | 0.64 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 14 |
| Writing | 16 | 0.64 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 12, 14 |
The subject includes three types of activities:
a) Directed activities.
b) Supervised activities.
c) Independent activities.
The teaching methodology is suitable for this typology. It combines lectures with supervised and autonomous individual and group work by the students.
-Directed activities are classroom activities, and may consist of lectures, seminars and practicals on the readings or problem analysis and discussions of program topics.
-Supervised activities are activities carried out by the students outside the classroom in accordance with a work plan designed and subsequently tutored and evaluated by the teaching staff.
-Independent activities are all those activities that students do on their own, in accordance with the requirements of the course in order to successfully pass the subject. It includes the preparation of the activities scheduled in the course, as well as the preparation of the assessment tests.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exam | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 |
| reading seminars | 30% | 9 | 0.36 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15 |
| Seminar "cinema and work" | 20% | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 7, 6, 9, 16, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15 |
The subject has two assessment methods. Continuous evaluation is recommended. And the exception for motivated cases is the single assessment.
I. The continuous evaluation
The continuous evaluation includes three types of evidence:
1) Reading seminars (30%, in groups)
2) "Cinema and work" seminars (20%, in group)
3) Exam (50%, individual)
a) The Group evaluation
The group assessment aims to capture the ability to work in a team, to understand and apply theoretical concepts, as well as the ability to synthesize and express themselves orally and in writing. The teams will be of 3 to 5 people, as indicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course.
The group assessment includes the following two types of scorable tasks:
The first is the work developed and submitted in the reading seminars (25% of the grade). In each seminar session, one or two readings will be discussed. Each work group must present orally, in about 10 minutes, the thesis and key arguments of the assigned reading and submit the PowerPoint or presentation material used.
The second task is the work developed and submitted in the "Cinema and Work" seminars (15% of the grade). In these sessions, students must have watched the compulsory films of the course, link their content with the themes covered throughout the course, answer and individually submit the questions posed by the lecturer at the beginning of each session, and participate in the subsequent discussion.
Attendance and participation in the seminars are compulsory and account for 10% of the grade.
No late submissions will be accepted.
B) Individual assessment
The individual assessment will consist of an exam (50% mark).This assesses the conceptual and theoretical knowledge of the subject achieved by the student, as well as their capacity for analysis and critical reasoning. A minimum gradeof 4 must be obtained to be able to average with the rest of the course grades.
NOT ASSESSED
Those students who have not submitted any element of the assessment, whether in their individual or group modality, will be considered not presented
RE-ASSESSMENT.
People who got a grade lower than 5 in the exam have the right to their re-evaluation, which will be on the date officially set by the faculty. The activities of seminars and group work will not be subject to re-evaluation.
Please keep in mind the basic academic rules on how to cite and avoid plagiarism (https://www.uab.cat/doc/GuiaCitesiPlagiEstudiants)
II. Unique assessment
The single assessment includes three types of evidence:
1) Exercise on seminar readings and films (35%)
2) "Cinema and Work" video (15%)
3) Exam (50%, individual)
Students opting for single assessment must complete all three pieces of evidence on the official exam day set by the faculty. First, they must take the individual exam for the subject. Second, after the exam, they must complete a written exercise on the readings and films. This will involve answering, in writing, in person, and individually, the questions posed about one or two of the readings and one or two films from the course seminars. Finally, they must submit a 5-minute video connecting the content of one of the films (previously agreed with the lecturer) with the themes covered throughout the course. It is the student's responsibility to contact the lecturer to agree on the film for the video.
A minimum grade of 4 must be achieved to average with the rest of the course grades.
AI USE
In this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted in any of its phases. Any work containing AI-generated content will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a partial or total penalty in the activity grade, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.
Please keep in mind the basic academic rules on how to cite and avoid plagiarism (https://www.uab.cat/doc/GuiaCitesiPlagiEstudiants)
Bibliography
NOTE: the list of references of reading seminars will be available on the virtual campus
Textbook
Köhler-H.D., Martín Artiles, A.. (2021) Manual de la sociología del trabajo y de las relaciones laborales, Madrid: Delta Ediciones. 4arta. Eddición.
Readings of special interest
Beechey, V (1994) "Replanteamiento de la definición de trabajo". A Borderías C, Carrasco C y Alemany C (eds) Las mujeres y el trabajo. Rupturas conceptuales. Barcelona: Icaria
Grimshaw S, Colette F, Hebson G i Tavora I (2017) A new labour market segmentation approach for analysing inequalities and overview. A Grimshaw S, Colette F, Hebson G i Tavora I (eds.) Making work more equal. A new labour market segmentation approach. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Marx K (1968 [1867]) “La fàbrica” (pp.345-353) i "La producción progresiva de una superpoblación relativa o ejército industrial de reserva" (pp.532-542), a El Capital. LLIBRE PRIMER. Ciutat de Mèxic: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Miguélez F y Prieto C (2001) Crisis del empleo y cohesión social. Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 19: 223-240
Robinson CJ (2019 [1983]) "La trata de esclavos en el Atlántico y la mano de obra africana" a El Marxismo Negro. La formación de la tradición radical negra. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños.
Sennet R (2000 [1998]) "Prólogo" (pp.9-12) i "A la Deriva" a La corrosión del carácter. Las consecuencias personales del trabajo en el nuevo capitalismo. Barcelona: Anagrama
Barranco O (2025) “Navegando en la crisis permanente. Apuntes sobre la acción sindicalen el Estado español. A P Ibarra, R Gomà i A Sribman (eds.) Movimientos sociales y cambio de época: la acción colectiva en transición. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra
General list of references
Alonso, L.E. (2000). Trabajo y postmodernidad: el empleo débil. Madrid: Ed. Fundamentos.
Agulló, Esteban (2001). “Entre la precariedad laboral y la exclusión social: los otros trabajos, los otros trabajadores.”[En Agullo, E. (coord): Trabajo, individuo y sociedad. Madrid: Pirámide.
Bauman, Z. (2000). Trabajo, consumismo y nuevos pobres. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Barranco O, Alós R y Molina O (2022) Innovar para representar: trabajadores con dificultades de representación colectiva y estrategias sindicales en España. Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 40(1), 115-137
Beaud, S. i Pialoux, M. (2015). Repensar la condición obrera. Investigación en las fábricas de Peugeot de Sochaux-Monbéliard. Buenos Aires: Antropofagia. [edición original francesa: (1999). Retour sur la condition ouvière. Paris: Fayard] https://lostrabajadoresenargentina.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/beaud-y-pialoux-2015-repensar-la-condicic3b3n-obrera.pdf
Beck, U. (2000): Un nuevo mundo feliz. Barcelona: Paidós.
Boltanski, L. Chiapello, E. (2002). El nuevo espíritu del capitalismo. Madrid: Akal.
Borderías, C.; Carrasco, C.; Alemany, C. (comp.1994) Las mujeres y el trabajo. Rupturas conceptuales. Madrid-Barcelona: Icaria-FUHEM
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1999. La Precarietat, Avui, És a TotArreu. Barcelona: Edicions 62.
Cachón, Lorenzo. 2009. La España Inmigrante: Marco Institucional, Mercado de Trabajo y Políticas de Integración. Barcelona: Anthropos.
Carrasco, Cristina, ed. 2007. Estadístiques Sota Sospita: Proposta de Nous Indicadors Des de l’experiència Femenina. Generalitat de Catalunya, Institut Català de les Dones.
Carrasco, Cristina, Cristina Borderías & Teresa Torns. 2011. El Trabajo de Cuidados: Historia, Teoría y Políticas. Barcelona: Catarata.
Castel, R.(1995). La metamorfosis de lacuestión social.Barcelona: Paidós.
Castells, M. (1996). La era de la información. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Castillo Mendoza, C.A. (coord.1999). Economía, organización y trabajo. Un enfoque sociológico. Madrid: Pirámide.
Carnoy, M. (2000). El trabajo flexible. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Coriat, B. (1981). El taller y el cronómetro. Madrid: Siglo XXI.
Cortina, Adela (2001). Ciudadanos del mundo. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Dickinson; J.; Emler, N. (1987). “Los nuevos conceptos de trabajo.” [En Hartley, J.F. (coord.): Relaciones Laborales. La psicología de la influencia y del control en el trabajo. Madrid: MTSS]
Fernández Steinko, A. (2002). Experiencias participativas en economía y empresa. Madrid: siglo XXI.
Garcia Calavia, Miguel Angel. 2011. Sociologia de Les Relacions Laborals. Valencia: Universitat de València.
Gorz, A. (1995). La metamorfosis del trabajo. Madrid: Sistema.
Grimshaw, Damian, Colette Fagan, Gail Hebson & Isabel Tavora. 2017. “A New Labour Market Segmentation Approach for Analysing Inequalities: Introduction and Overview.” Making Work More Equal. Manchester University Press. 1–32.
Handy, C. (1986). El futuro del trabajo. Barcelona: Ariel.
Hyman, R. (2000). Understanding unions. London: Sage.
Kern, M. Schumann, M. (1988). El fin de la división del trabajo: Madrid: Ariel.
Maruani, M.; Rogerat, Ch., Torns, T. (dirs.) (2000) Las nuevas fronteras de la desigualdad. Hombres y mujeres en el mercado de trabajo. Barcelona: Icaria.
Meda, D. (1998). El trabajo. Un valor en peligro de extinción. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Muñoz Bustillo, R. (ed.2000). El estado de bienestar en el cambio de siglo. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
O´Brien, Gordon E. (1987). “La evolución del sentido del trabajo.” [En Hartley, J.F.(coord.): op. cit.]
Offe, C. (1992). La sociedad del trabajo. Madrid. Alianza Editorial.
Perdiguero, T.G.(2003). La responsabilidad social de la empresa en un mundo global. Barcelona: Anagrama.
Pérez-Orozco, Amaia. 2014. Subversión Feminista de La Economía. Aportes Para Un Debate Sobre El Conflicto Capital-Vida. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños.
Polanyi, K. (1989). La gran transformación. Madrid: La Piqueta.
Pollert, A. (1993). ¿Adiós a la flexibilidad?. Madrid: MTSS.
Rifkin, J. (1997).. El fin del trabajo Barcelona: Paidós.
Ritzer, G. (1995). La McDonalización de la sociedad. Barcelona: Ariel.
Recio, A. (1997). Trabajo, personas y mercados. Barcelona- Madrid: FUHEM-ICARIA.
Rodriguez; Jorge (2001). Capitalismo flexible y Estado del Bienestar. Granada: Comares.
Santamaría, Elsa & Amparo Serrano. 2016. Precarización e Individualización Del Trabajo: Claves Para Entender y Transformar La Realidad Laboral. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Sennett, Richard. (2000). La corrosión del carácter. Barcelona: Anagrama.
Sennet, Richard. 2018. La Cultura Del Nuevo Capitalismo (Vol. 349). Barcelona: Anagrama.
Serrano, Amparo y otros (2001). “La experiencia subjetiva del trabajo en una sociedad en transformación.” [En Agulló, Esteban (coord.): Trabajo, individuo y sociedad. Madrid: Pirámide.]
Torns, Teresa. 2008. “El Trabajo y El Cuidado: Cuestiones Teórico-Metodológicas Desde La Perspectiva de Género.” EMPIRIA. Revista de Metodología de Ciencias Sociales 15:53–73.
Software
None
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM) Seminars | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 51 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 51 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |