Studying Work provides a comprehensive investigation of the major trends in work and employment. The changing social order and its impact upon the labour market in recent years, alongside the huge changes brought about by new technology and globalization are considered. Contemporary issues, however, are placed within an historical context, in order to build up a detailed and accurate picture of the nature of modern employment. Studying Work begins with asking and exploring the key question: what is work? From this beginning it moves on to cover a range of important issues relating to employment, including: the nature of work time; divisions of gender, age, race, sexuality and skill within the workforce; questions of unemployment; identity and emotions at work, as well as the traditional theoretical approaches, from Weber to postmodernity and industrial and post industrial society. Studying Work provides students with a broad overview of the discipline, offering an examination of the major theoretical and methodological issues and supplying an excellent bibliography and guide to the current and historical literature in this area, case studies and a glossary of key terms.