Contemporary Issues- Work and the Workplace

The Evolving Nature of Work and the Workplace
Contemporary Issues Seminar
April 1-2, 2000
Co-sponsored by SAR and Worklife Institute, John Robson, President

The first Contemporary Issues seminar convened seven advanced scholars and two business leaders to discuss The Evolving Nature of Work and the Workplace. To form the basic agenda for this two-day meeting, seminar participants submitted talking points related to participation in the workplace, the character of the workplace, and the relationships among work, family and community.

Five key issues deemed particularly deserving of additional research emerged from these discussions, and participants framed questions to help target further study in each area. These key issues, and sample questions, were:

1. The valuation of occupations and the socialization of individuals to particular occupational niches: For example, what impact have such factors as migration, relative mobility, ethnic identity, and the decline of unions had on the valuation of occupations?

2. New market, new workplace: For example, in what ways do new technologies and organizational structures affect the distribution of power in the workplace, and does the flatter organizational hierarchy in fact mask new forms of power?

3. Work and the family: For example, how are families coping with the demands of work and domesticity, and how do different ethnic groups and classes experience the new parameters of work?

4. Outsourcing: For example, are the effects of outsourcing felt differently in different industries and across different kinds of outsourcing work.

5. Networking and Association: For example, what is the role of corporations, community-based organizations, unions, and government agencies in helping workers move between jobs?

This first Contemporary Issues seminar was funded in part by a $10,000 grant from the Worklife Institute, John Robson, president.

Standing (left to right): Lucy Suchman, John W. Snow, Cynthia Negrey, Ed Yelin, Tom Fricke, Douglas Schwartz (SAR), David Edwards
Seated (left to right): Louise Lamphere, John Robson, Anne Foner

Participants:

David Edwards (Anthropology, Williams College)

Anne Foner (Sociology, Rutgers University)

Tom Fricke (Anthropology, University of Michigan)

Louise Lamphere (Anthropology, University of New Mexico)

Cynthia Negrey (Sociology, Institute for Women's Policy Research and University of Louisville)

John Robson (President, Worklife Institute; BancBoston Robertson Stephens)

John W. Snow (CEO, CSX Corporation, Richmond, VA)

Lucy Suchman (Anthropologist/Researcher, Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, CA)

Ed Yelin (Work and Health Program, University of California, San Francisco)