Shifts in the social contract : understanding change in American society / Beth A. Rubin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rubin, Beth A., 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social change--United States.

Social change.

United States--Economic conditions--1981-2001.

United States.

United States--Social conditions--1980-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 208 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Pine Forge Press, c1996.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Examining the changes in society in the United States, Beth Rubin explains how the current era differs fundamentally from the post-World War Two period; how and why that change has occurred; and what its meaning is to everyday life. She traces the changes from a domestic to a global economy, the transformation of the workplace, and the impact that these changes have had on how other people are experiencing social aspects of their lives: their families and interpersonal relations, their communities and their experience of the culture of mass society.

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Preface; Chapter 1 - Social Change in the Twentieth Century; Society in Transition; Economic Transformations; Shifts in the Social Contract; The American Dream; Accord in the Post-World War II Era; Economic Growth and Workplace Security; Marriage, Family, and a House in the Suburbs; Activist Government; Culture and Counterculture; End of a Century, End of an Era; Insecurity in the Economy and the Workplace; Changing Family Structures and Roles; Distracted Government; Cultural Confusion; Implications; Chapter 2 - From Industrial Economy to Flexible Economy

The Labor-Capital Accord; Unions and Big Business; The Accord and the Dual Economy; The Economic Consequences of the Accord; The Breakdown of the Accord; Failed Competition and Declining Profitability; Corporate Strategies for Maintaining Profits; The Emerging Economy; Flexible Production and Flexible Accumulation; Dualism in the Service Sector; Structural Unemployment, Inequality, and the Broken Contract; Conclusions; Chapter 3 - Work in the Flexible Economy; Labor Market Segmentation; Work in the Accord Years: The Stable Workplace; Good Jobs: Blue-Collar Jobs in the Primary Labor Market

Good Jobs: White-Collar Jobs in the Primary Labor Market; Bad Jobs: The Secondary Labor Market; Work in the Post-Accord Years: The Flexible Workplace; Good Jobs: Dynamically Flexible Workers; Bad Jobs: Statically Flexible Workers; The Challenge to Education; Education in the Accord Era; Education and the Emerging Economy; Conclusions; Chapter 4 - Flexible Families; From Preindustrial Families to Modern Families; The Agrarian Family as Production Unit; The Modern Family as Consumer Unit; Accord-Era Families; The Implicit Contract: Homemakers and Breadwinners; Breakdown of the Accord Family

Forming Flexible Families; Flexible Specialization and the Middle Class; Numerical Flexibility and the Working Class; The New Economy and the Underclass; The Feminization of Poverty; Conclusions; Chapter 5 - The Changing Role of Government; Levels of Government Involvement; The Uninvolved State; The Protection of Property; Regulation of Employment Relations; Depression, War, and the End of an Era; The Involved State; The Welfare State; The Warfare State; Tensions in the Involved State; The Distracted State; Globalization of the Economy; Fiscal Crisis; Technological Distractions

New Social Movements; Conclusions; Chapter 6 - Culture in a Changing World; Culture: The Creation of Meaning; Culture Versus Social Structure; The Social Contract as Cultural Metaphor; Forces of Cultural Change; Faith, Hope, and Culture; Fundamentalism and Social Change; Religion and the Emerging Social Contract; Globalization and Cultural Change; The Impact of Immigration; The Challenge of Multiculturalism; The Impact of Technology; Conclusions; Chapter 7 - Transition to the Future; The Decline of the Postwar Social Contract, Revisited; A New Era of Flexibility; Possible Worlds; A Pessimistic View of the Future

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [189]-198) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781506338200

1506338208

9781483327402

148332740X

9781452247649

1452247641

OCLC:

809773969