Drawing on the emerging field of narrative theory in sociology and psychology, this book argues that an individual’s response to job loss is a product of the shape of the story a person tells about their experience. This, in turn, is a product of both individual creativity and the structuring effects of their social location. Based on a qualitative study of the experience of unemployment in Australia, three main types of job loss narratives are identified. First, romantic narratives describe job loss as a positive experience of liberation from an oppressive job, leading to a gradually improving future. Second, tragic narratives describe job loss as undermining a person’s life plan, leading to a phase of depression, anxiety and self-deprecation. Finally, job loss narratives may be complicated by marital breakdown or serious illness. The book breaks new ground in its use of narrative theory to account for the variations in responses to unemployment.

Drawing on the emerging field of narrative theory in sociology and psychology, this book analyzes how people respond to unemployment and job loss and explores the consequences for self-esteem and identity. It argues that an individual’s response to job loss is a product of the shape of the story they tell about their experience, and that this in turn is a product of both individual creativity and the structuring effects of their social location.

Greece’s economy and society have undergone important structural changes in recent years as a result of the financial crisis and consequent austerity policies that have been implemented. The Greek labour market and employment relations system have been subject to immense pressures, leading to fundamental changes both in the structure of institutions and in the behaviour of the main employment relations actors. The present volume constitutes a first attempt to appreciate the consequences of a decade of austerity politics on the Greek labour market. Offering a multidisciplinary perspective and building on original research by leading Greek scholars in the fields of labour economics, employment relations and the sociology of work, it will discuss the impact of the crisis and the resulting policies on the Greek labour market and employment relations. This volume will be of interest to policy makers, researchers and students interested in the past, present and future of Greek employment relations and the impact of austerity on Greece.

Our jobs are often a big part of our identities, and when we are fired, we can feel confused, hurt, and powerless—at sea in terms of who we are. Drawing on extensive, real-life interviews, Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health shines a light on the experiences of unemployed, middle-class professional men and women, showing how job loss can affect both identity and mental health. Sociologist Dawn R. Norris uses in-depth interviews to offer insight into the experience of losing a job—what it means for daily life, how the unemployed feel about it, and the process they go through as they try to deal with job loss and their new identities as unemployed people. Norris highlights several specific challenges to identity that can occur. For instance, the way other people interact with the unemployed either helps them feel sure about who they are, or leads them to question their identities. Another identity threat happens when the unemployed no longer feel they are the same person they used to be. Norris also examines the importance of the subjective meaning people give to statuses, along with the strong influence of society’s expectations. For example, men in Norris’s study often used the stereotype of the “male breadwinner” to define who they were. Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health describes various strategies to cope with identity loss, including “shifting” away from a work-related identity and instead emphasizing a nonwork identity (such as “a parent”), or conversely “sustaining” a work-related identity even though he or she is actually unemployed. Finally, Norris explores the social factors—often out of the control of unemployed people—that make these strategies possible or impossible. A compelling portrait of a little-studied aspect of the Great Recession, Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health is filled with insight into the identity crises that unemployment can trigger, as well as strategies to help the unemployed maintain their mental strength.

The sociology of unemployment is an analysis of the experience and governance of unemployment. By considering unemployment as more than just the absence of work; the book explores unemployment as a distinctive experience created by the welfare state. Each chapter explores an aspect of the experience or governance of unemployment; beginning with how people talk about their experience of being unemployed individually and collectively, to the places of unemployment, and on to the processes, policies and forms of the social welfare system. Clear explanations of classic theories are explored and extended, all against the backdrop of new primary research. Chapter by chapter, The sociology of unemployment challenges the ‘deprivation theory of unemployment’ which dominates sociology, psychology and social policy, by focusing on how governmental power forms the experience of unemployment. As a result, the book is both an introductory text on the sociology of unemployment and a fresh, critical perspective.

This volume examines the connections between race and work, focusing how racial minorities deal with identity in the workplace; how workers of color encounter exclusion, marginalization and sidelining; and strategies minority workers use to combat and change patterns of workplace inequality.

This edition provides a critical approach to the study of work and organizational behaviour, questioning what organizational behaviour is and how it has been researched and discussed.