Work — In Progress

As was highlighted in the Introduction our objectives for this book were to remember and showcase the significance of paid work as experienced by those who participate in it, and continue in the tradition established by Studs Terkel in Working. It is significant, too, that our contribution deliberately appears 40 years after the publication of his book. This is to both celebrate the experience of work and to identify changes that may have occurred in employment since Working appeared in the early 1970s. A number of writers have similarly argued for an engaged approach to studies of work and organisation (Barley and Kunda 2001). For an activity that consumes much of one’s life, work is perhaps taken for granted and insufficiently analysed and questioned as people go about their daily business. Just Work reminds us of the diverse and complex interpretations of employment in a contemporary developed market economy, and points to the extraordinariness of ordinary people and their work. Despite this diversity, we argue that just and fair treatment at, and of, work are highly desirable qualities — as indicated by our participants’ stories.