Work and Social Justice: Rethinking Labour in Society and the Economy

Front Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Table of contents
Foreword
Preface
1 Introduction
Part I Through the lens of economics
	2 The unfortunate legacies of the 18th and 19th centuries
		Introduction
		The ‘free market’ – an idea past its use-by date
		The long shadow of the Victorian outlook on society
		The legacy of 19th-century perspectives on science
	3 The scope and limits of economics
		Introduction
		A sample of major intellectual divides among economists
			Can the free market be the level playing field the founding fathers hoped for?
			Could market competition end gender and race discrimination?
			Is unemployment genuine or a ‘lifestyle choice’?
			Does economics tell us that markets should be left to their own devices?
		Academia’s intellectual islands
		Methodological pitfalls that await the unwary researcher
	4 Paid work through the lens of economics
		Introduction
		Adam Smith
		Alfred Marshall and John Hicks
		The Institutionalists’ battle against a narrow market approach
		Change in the wind
		More recent perspectives on the economic impact of trade unions
	5 Equity, social justice and the ‘efficient economy’
		Introduction
		‘Efficiency’ and ‘equity’ in economic theory
		The limits of using tax relief to combat social injustice
Part II The rise and fall of progressive policies
	6 From the ‘Dark Satanic Mills’ to the welfare state
		Introduction
		From the ‘Dark Satanic Mills’ to more humane workplaces
		The battle for the 8-hour working day
		The emergence of social insurance and public sector services
		Employment relationships through the ages
		Legislating minimum wages and improving work conditions
		Myths regarding the impact of minimum wages
	7 Enter neoliberalism
		Introduction
		Assaults on trade unions in the UK, US and Australia
		Unemployment and ‘rugged individualism’
		Languishing in the US ‘Rust Belt’
		What can be done?
		For whom do the tax-cut bells toll?
		Neoliberal warriors
Part III When profit and prejudice reign
	8 Profits vs the duty of care
	9 Still waiting – gender, race and ethnicity
		Introduction
		Intersectional discrimination
		The plight of indigenous people
			The Pilbara 1946–1949 strike
			The Wave Hill 1966 strike
			Unfortunate government policies
			Educational attainment – barriers and solutions
		Inequality of pay and access to jobs
		In the mind of the beholder
		Engineering bias against women and non-western people
		The long shadow of slavery
		Through the lens of feminist scholarship
Part IV Beyond the measuring rod of money
	10 Looking at paid work outside the lens of economics
		Introduction
		The social conditions of health
		Paid work as a social institution
		Unemployment and individual health
	11 Power over others
		Introduction
		Philosophical discourse on the inequality of power
		The experience of power at the coalface
		Steep vs flat power structures
		Workplace bullying
	12 Human rights and democracy in the workplace
		Introduction
		The application of human rights in the workplace
		Industrial democracy
		Democracy at the workplace – the rise of the worker cooperative movement
		The right to work
		Social citizenship and the welfare state
		Probing the notion of citizenship rights
		Human rights: critical voices
	13 Confronting climate change and the AI revolution
		Introduction
		Environmental awareness, climate denial and the GND
		Universal Basic Income and the future of work
		The AI revolution
		The social dividend of technological change
		Overhauling our tax systems
		The reality of living on a Universal Basic Income
Epilogue
Notes
	Chapter 1
	Chapter 2
	Chapter 3
	Chapter 4
	Chapter 5
	Chapter 6
	Chapter 7
	Chapter 8
	Chapter 9
	Chapter 10
	Chapter 11
	Chapter 12
	Chapter 13
References
Index