Overview

This work seeks to show how the impact of the ideology and practices of consumption are affecting not only consumers' non-working life and identities, but increasingly their working life and identities within it. It seeks to show how the boundaries between employees as consumers and as workers are being blurred, not only by organizations' concern to meet the needs of ""consumers as customers"", but also through shared expectations that consumers and employees must be autonomous, responsible, calculating and enterprising individuals both in and outside work.

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9780803979284

Table of Contents

Reviews

'In a significant contribution to social theory and a fascinating ethnography of work in retailing, Paul du Gay combines approaches from cultural studies and the sociology of work and management to illuminate a key aspect of modern life' - Stephen Hill, London School of Economics and Political Science 'The book fizzes with all sorts of interesting ideas... In Chapter 7, du Gay also offers a very thought-provoking account of the dynamics of conflict within contemporary organisations... The book has numerous other strengths. It is clearly written and contains good summaries of some theoretical debates which will be useful in teaching (for example, the lucid summary of some of the key elements of post-structuralist thought in Chapter 2)... there is no doubt that du Gay has defined a distinctive perspective on work and identity which will command attention and that he offers numerous important insights into the changing nature of paid employment in contemporary Britain' - Work, Employment and Society

`In a significant contribution to social theory and a fascinating ethnography of work in retailing, Paul du Gay combines approaches from cultural studies and the sociology of work and management to illuminate a key aspect of modern life′ - Stephen Hill, London School of Economics and Political Science `The book fizzes with all sorts of interesting ideas.... In Chapter 7, du Gay also offers a very thought-provoking account of the dynamics of conflict within contemporary organisations.... The book has numerous other strengths. It is clearly written and contains good summaries of some theoretical debates which will be useful in teaching (for example, the lucid summary of some of the key elements of post-structuralist thought in Chapter 2).... there is no doubt that du Gay has defined a distinctive perspective on work and identity which will command attention and that he offers numerous important insights into the changing nature of paid employment in contemporary Britain′ - Work, Employment and Society

Author Information

Paul du Gay is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at The Open University

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