New publication: "Anerkennung in erweiterter Arbeit" (Recognition in a widened concept of work) by Linda Nierling [01.03.2013]

The German employment system has been repeatedly imputed of crises during the last decades and even today indications of its crisis are paramount. Not only precarious jobs, but also the increases of occupational burn-out are characteristics for the current system while the field of reproductive work is losing more and more in importance.

This book takes as starting point the German debates of the 1980s and 1990s on the "crisis of work". It elaborates what the concept of "extended work", which was developed in those days, can still contribute to solve the current crisis. "Extended work" integrates different forms of work covering regular employment and other forms such as family work, community work and self-employment.

For this purpose, Linda Nierling carried out three case studies analyzing the individual and social relations of recognition in paid and unpaid work.

As the author can show, widened forms of work provide a broad variety of "soft" recognition experiences. They do not replace "hard" social recognition structures of regular employment, but they can compensate for disregarding experiences from other fields, can encourage the individual person, and thus can contribute to a better coping with insecure circumstances at the individual level.

Bibliographic data:
Nierling, L.
Anerkennung in erweiterter Arbeit. Eine Antwort auf die Krise der Erwerbsarbeit? Berlin: edition sigma 2013. ISBN 978-3-8360-3591-0. 264 S., 19.90 Euro

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