Families at Work: Expanding the Bounds [Paperback]

Naomi Gerstel (Editor), Dan Clawson (Editor), Robert Zussman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826513980 | ISBN-13: 978-0826513984 | Publication Date: June 18, 2007 | Edition: 1

What is the relationship between work and family in a world where employment creates endless tensions for families and families create endless tensions for the workplace? This collection of reprinted and original articles broadens this discussion by addressing issues from the perspectives of often neglected populations: from white middle-class women with young children to people of color, to poor families, to the new sorts of families gays and lesbians are struggling to construct, to fathers, to older children.

To discuss work and family is also to discuss gender. Ranging from California's Silicon Valley to a remote fishing village in the northeast, part one shows how new work arrangements have created new expectations for what it means to be a woman or a man, and how slow and uneven the pace of change can be. Nowhere are the tensions of work and family more potent than around childcare. Part two takes up these tensions, showing how various "solutions" to caring for children of all ages (whether infants or teenagers) create new problems. Parts three and four turn outward to show how the new relationships between families and work are changing the relationships between families and the communities in which they live and generating new social policy dilemmas.

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . vivid portrayals of the lived experience of workers in these different contexts. On their own, many are exceptionally compelling narratives. As a whole, the collection is of a consistently high standard and relevance to the book's objects.
--Labour & Industry

About the Author

Naomi Gerstel is professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is an editor of the ASA Rose Series in Social Policy.

Dan Clawson is professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is an editor of the ASA Rose Series in Social Policy.

Robert Zussman is professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is an editor of the ASA Rose Series in Social Policy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press; 1 edition (June 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826513980
• ISBN-13: 978-0826513984
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,425,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great set of readings!, May 26, 2002

By 

Robert Drago (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Families at Work: Expanding the Bounds (Paperback)

Two years ago, many of us were at a conference in San Francisco that led to the new book, "Families at Work: Expanding the Bounds," edited by Naomi Gerstel, Dan Clawson, and Robert Zussman (Vanderbilt Press, 2002,[$$$]+shipping from amazon.com). I thought the conference was great, but the book is even better. Whether due to the judicious selection of chapters, or superb editing, the book serves as a great reader on work/family research, and particularly for qualitative research (I know,
some of the quant folks hit the ceiling when an 'N' of 36 pops up, but I find much of it very insightful). Many of the chapters are on topics where little is otherwise known -- including the division of labor among lesbigay couples, the meanings of reciprocity among single moms, how moms think about the needs of teenagers, how work & family have fit into the lives of political activists, and how being a 'nerd' translates into masculinity in
high-tech jobs. Two of the papers have already become classics of some sort -- a chapter from Francine Deutsch's "Halving It All" on blue-collar couples, and a chapter by Gerstel and Clawson on unions and w/f. A majority of the chapters have admittedly been published elsewhere already, but it would be very difficult to put all of the articles together yourself for, say, a course, and the book would work very well at the senior undergrad or grad level. Great work & congrats to the editors!