Capitalism and Labor

Introduction: Theorizing Capitalism and Labor: Challenges for Sociology Klaus Dörre, Nicole Mayer-Ahuja, Dieter SauerDespite its triumph in the confrontation between the East and the West, doubts concerning the future of capitalism are on the rise. While some point to the ecological limits of economic growth, others emphasize the growing inequality in terms of wealth, life chances, and political influence which calls into question the close connection between capitalism and democracy that countries of the so-called "Global North", or the capitalist centers, have become used to after the Second World War. Under these conditions, it is high time to come to terms with the complex and conflictual relationship between capitalism and labor, and to explore new critical perspectives. Moreover, what role could sociology play in this? After all, the most important lines of friction we envisage today are closely linked to structures and processes, which constitute the very field of labor sociology. How is abstract labor transformed into concrete labor, how is the latter coordinated and controlled, and what implications do the changes which can be discerned on the shop-floor today have for the chances of men and women to take their own decisions about how to work, how to live and how to reproduce their labor power, as individuals and as social collectives?What transformations have occurred with regard to the organizational structures in which labor is performed? If companies take to a disintegration of value chains, outsource parts of their business to other firms or even to individuals, and spread their operations across an ever increasing part of the globe, what effects does this have on power relations between capital and labor, between the "Global North" and the "Global South", and for competition and solidarity among an increasingly fragmented working population?Finally, how can we account for the changing character of the socio-economic system we live in today? If we call

ContentsIntroductionTheorizing Capitalism and Labor: Challenges for Sociology 11Klaus Dörre, Nicole Mayer-Ahuja and Dieter SauerI. The Sociology of Work and the Critique of CapitalismSociology of Work and the Critique of Capitalism: Mistakes, Limits, Possibilities 35Christoph DeutschmannWork-More than Employment?Critique of Capitalism and the Sociology of Work 44Sarah Nies and Dieter SauerLandnahme through Tests:A Useful Concept for the Sociology of Work 71Klaus Dörre and Tine HaubnerII. What Do Theories of Capitalism Contribute to the Sociology of Work?Diverging Views on Capitalism and Work: How Feminist Analyses of Capitalism Relate to the Theory of Capitalism and the Sociology of Work 115Brigitte AulenbacherThe Theory of Regulation and Labor Policy 128Hans-Jürgen BielingSubalternity and the Social Division of Labor: Sociology of Work meets Materialist State Theory 143Stefanie Hürtgen and Jens WisselWork and Critical Theory: An Unfinished Project 157David StreckerCapitalist Society: A View from the Theory of Functional Differentiation 171Uwe SchimankFinancial Market Capitalism or Financial Market Rationality? 185Jürgen KädtlerRe-Constructing the FutureFlexibilization and the Temporality of Capitalism 201Hajo HolstIII. What Does the Sociology of Work Contribute to the Critique of Capitalism?Serfdom-(Lost) Love's Labor-Service Industries: Services from Feudal Times to Late Capitalism 227Cornelia KlingerWork and Reproduction 241Kerstin JürgensLabor, Insecurity, Informality 257Nicole Mayer-AhujaWork and Subjectivity 269Stephan VoswinkelInformatization as Force of Production: The Informatized Mode of Production as Basis of a New Phase of Capitalism 283Andreas Boes and Tobias KämpfCapitalist Work Organization and Self-activity 302Harald WolfWork and Consumption:A New Perspective for Economic Democracy 318Jörn LamlaWork and Sustainability 335Stefanie HißIV. Theory of Capitalism and Critique of CapitalismGrowth Critique as Critique of Capitalism 349Brigit MahnkopfWork and

Klaus Dörre ist Professor am Institut für Soziologie der Universität Jena. Nicole Mayer-Ahuja ist Professorin am SOFI der Universität Göttingen. Dieter Sauer ist Professor am ISF München. Volker Wittke (1957 - 2012) war Professor am SOFI an der Universität Göttingen.