Contemporary Economic Sociology: Globalization, Work and Inequality

Contemporary Economic Sociology closely examines critical and contemporary issues in the sociology of economic life. Bringing together a range of theoretical perspectives, Fran Tonkiss examines major shifts in the organization of economy and society - from the politics of globalization to the cultural economy, social exclusion and the 'end' of class. This new volume is organized around three core themes (globalization, production and inequality) and answers the questions: how are transnational processes re-making contemporary economies? can capitalist globalization be governed or resisted? do class relations still shape people’s social identities? how can we think about inequality in national and international contexts? Key changes in each of these domains raise new challenges for analyzing social and economic relations, power, agency and identity. Setting these changes in a transnational context, this book examines how these issues are being re-shaped in contemporary societies, and explores competing frameworks for understanding such changes. Drawing on arguments from economic sociology, politics and policy studies, political economy and critical geography, the text focuses on both conceptual approaches to the social study of the economy, and trans-national processes of social and economic restructuring. The arguments provide a critical overview of current concerns for economic sociology, and extend the boundaries of the discipline to a new set of questions. The text is particularly relevant to undergraduate and graduate students and scholars in the fields of economic and political sociology, politics and government, geography, economics and international relations.