While much attention has been focused on the rise of the modern Chinese nation, little or none has been directed at the emergence of "citizenry". This book examines thinkers from the period 1890-1920 in modern China, and shows how China might forge a modern society with a political citizenry.

The successful 1997 strike by the Teamsters against UPS, and the overwhelming support the American public gave the strikers highlighted the impact of contingent work--an umbrella term for a variety of tenuous and insecure employment arrangements. This book examines the consequences of working contingently for the individual, family, and community.

Examines trends in part time employment from 1969 to 1997 and identifies reasons for the growth in involuntary part time employment. Analyses the potential impact on workers were the government to prohibit wage discrimination based on hours worked and to require benefit eligibility for part time workers. Also considers the effects of a mismatch between the qualifications of part time workers and the heightened skill requirements of jobs.

Based on interviews and case records, this study of low-income older persons who hold part-time jobs fills an important gap in research about the work experiences of this segment of our population. Although part-time work for the elderly persons studied has both negative and positive consequences, the authors conclude that overall the positive aspects far outweighed the negative ones. This book makes an important contribution toward furthering our understanding of part-time jobs in general and serves as a valuable resource for knowledge about low-income elderly workers in particular.

Unemployment is down--but so is job security. Mergers, spin-offs, and strategic realignments can changes corporations practically overnight. Whole industries can decline as stock prices fall and capital is routed electronically to the next big venture. Careers can end suddenly and incomes drastically fall. Emphasizing the increasing inequity among women workers--some advance rapidly in their careers while those at society's margins barely get by--Barbara Hilkert Andolsen's study is the first feminist analysis to connect religious understandings of economic justice with the issues facing both workers and the wider community. Expanding her scope to address all workers, she urges the knowledge elites to lessen the distance between themselves and the unskilled and poor in order to forge solidarity between common concerns. The New Job Contract investigates the buyouts and restructurings to expose the underlying economic transition afoot--and the broader implications for society and families.

This book examines changing work relationships in industrialized economies within the context of economic restructuring and demographic variables. The goal of this book is to examine experiences of industrialized economies in dealing with changing work relationships and discuss policy implications of creating such work relationships. The thesis of the book is that non-standard employment forms in restructuring economies affected all workers, but particularly females and the youth. Other demographic variables of education level, race/ethnicity/immigrant status, ability, and economic class were also underlying forces in the construction and arrangements of non-standard work. Research shows both positive and negative effects of changing work relationships on workers, though there is no conclusive result whether one or the other affect is stronger. The discussion in this book pays attention to this debate and sheds light on it. This book differs from others in its comprehensiveness of the coverage of work relationships, referring to part-time, temporary/casual, telework and self-employment without employees; in its examination of a variety of variables including gender, age, race/ethnicity/immigrant status, ability, education level, and economic class; in the analysis of the topic in relation with the economic restructuring; and in its initiative in collaboration of researchers from a variety of backgrounds and regions of the world that have expertise on changing work relationships.

The dramatic changes that have occurred in modern nation-states have engendered a renewed and increasing interest in issues of citizenship and rights. The original essays in this collection describe the formation and transformation of citizenship and rights, considering issues such as legal culture, sovereignty, jurisdiction, diversity, welfare, and related state norms, structures, practices, and resources. Employing a variety of theoretical frameworks and sociological orientations, the contributors explore the creation of public boundaries, along with changes in the rules defining citizenship roles, identities, and rights.