This course seeks to provide students with a sociological approach to Labour as a reality of all ages and a driving force of human societies. The methods of work and employment, as well as how it is spread, dictate, today, the social condition of existence, and therefore essentially the ways of life. Work is a source of wealth, integration, identity and inequality. By the different dimensions involved, work is a most complex object of study.
Understanding the complexity of work, its evolution and its place in society is the core of the problem elaborated here, even though the main focus will be on the new problems emerging in the fields of employment and industrial relations on a global, European and national scale.
The concept and meaning of work in its transformations
The main theoretical work in Western thought
Ideologies, values and work ethics
The historical reality of work and the conditions of workers
From bonded labour to the capitalist enterprise and the labour market
The contributions of Marx, Durkheim and Weber: social division and technical division
Work relations, employment and professional relations
The question of wages and the material and social equivalent of work
New issues and problems related to work, unemployment and the profession
The problems of first employment and child labour
The labor struggles and movements in defense of working conditions
The analysis of the work processes, the labour act and meaning
Addressing work organization and processes in its diversity and specificity
The decomposition of functional rhythms and the classification of performance
The future of human labour in the information society
The dynamics of teaching classes of this nature involves the creation of space for debate on known examples and empirical studies that could contribute to the enlightenment and enrichment of the issues raised and current issues such as unemployment and requalification. The question of personal experiences of life trajectories and experiences known to work and the employment relationship is reason to introduce learning activities guided by the objectives of self-discovery. The assessment for the course consists of two written tests; one may be replaced by documentary research and observation leading to the development of a monograph of a profession. Both elements have equal weight in the final grade.
DUBAR, Claude, A socialização. Construção das identidades sociais e profissionais, Porto Editora,1997.
FITOUSSI, J. & ROSANVALLON, P. (1997), A nova era das desigualdades. Oeiras: Celta.
FREIRE, João, Sociologia do trabalho: Uma introdução, Porto, Edições Afrontamento, 1993.
FRIEDMANN, Gerorges e Pierre Naville, Tratado de sociologia do trabalho, 2 vol.s, São Paulo, Cultrix, 1973.
JACCARD, Pierre, História Social do trabalho, Lisboa, circulo de Leitores, s/d.
JACCARD, Pierre, Psicossociologia do trabalho, Lisboa, Moraes Editores, 1969.
LEFRANC, Georges, História do trabalho e dos trabalhadores, Lisboa, Europress, 1988.
MÉDA, Dominique, O trabalho – Um valor em via de extinção, Lisboa, Fim de século, 1999.
RODRIGUES, Maria João, O Sistema de emprego em Portugal. Crise e mutações, col. "economia e gestão", 2ª Edição, Lisboa, Dom Quixote,1992.
SENNETT, Richard, A corrosão do carácter — As consequências pessoais do trabalho no novo capitalismo, Lisboa, Terramar, 2001
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