Shifts in the Social Contract: Understanding Change in American Society PDF
Preview Shifts in the Social Contract: Understanding Change in American Society
SHIFTS IN THE SOCIAL CONTRACT PINE FORGE PRESS TITLES OF RELATED INTEREST Sociology of Work: Concepts and Cases by Carol Auster Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using SPSS for WINDOWS by Earl Babbie and Fred Halley Sociology of Work by Richard H. Hall Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change by Joseph F. Healey Diversity in America by Vincent N. Parillo The McDonaldization of Society, Revised Edition by George Ritzer Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society by George Ritzer Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life by David M. Newman Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life (Readings) by David M. Newman The Pine Forge Press Series in Research Methods and Statistics Edited by Richard T. Campbell and Kathleen S. Crittenden Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice ofResearch by Russell K. Schutt A Guide to Field Research by Carol A. 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No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address: Pine Forge Press A Sage Publications Company 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 (805) 499-4224 E-mail: [email protected] SAGE Publications Ltd. 6 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PU United Kingdom SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd. M-32 Marker Greater Kailash I New Delhi 110 048 India Production: Rogue Valley Publications Designer: Deborah Davis Typesetter: Rebecca Evans & Associates Cover: Paula Shuhert and Graham Metcalfe Production Manager: Rebecca Holland Printed in the United States ofAmerica 06 07 08 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rubin, Beth Α., 1955 Shifts in the social contract: Understanding change in American society / Beth Rubin, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8039-9040-5 (p.: alk. paper) 1. Social change—United States. 2. United States—Social conditions—1980- 3. United States—Economic conditions—1981 I. Title. HN59.2R83 1995 303.4Ό973—dc20 95-13200 CIP To the best of my students whose questions generated the answers that became this book About the Author Beth A. Rubin (Ph.D., Indiana University-Bloomington) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Tulane University in New Orleans. She has published in the areas of labor sociology and the sociology of home lessness and housing. Her current research focuses on the intercon nections among economic, workplace, familial, cultural, and political transformations and their implications for social organization and stratification as we move into the twenty-first century. About the Publisher Pine Forge Press is a new educational publisher, dedicated to publish ing innovative books and software throughout the social sciences. On this and any other of our publications, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please call or write to: Pine Forge Press A Sage Publications Company 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 (805) 499-4224 E-mail: [email protected] PREFACE xi |j SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ι Society in Transition 4 Economic Transformations 4 Shifts in the Social Contract 6 The American Dream 7 Accord in the Post-World War II Era 8 Economic Growth and Workplace Security 9 Marriage, Family, and a House in the Suburbs 10 Activist Government 13 Culture and Counterculture 15 End of a Century, End of an Era 16 Insecurity in the Economy and the Workplace 16 Changing Family Structures and Roles 18 Distracted Government 19 Cultural Confusion 21 Implications 23 fcj FROM INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY TO FLEXIBLE ECONOMY 25 The Labor-Capital Accord 27 Unions and Big Business 27 The Accord and the Dual Economy 33 The Economic Consequences of the Accord 36 The Breakdown of the Accord 37 Failed Competition and Declining Profitability 38 Corporate Strategies for Maintaining Profits 41 The Emerging Economy 50 Flexible Production and Flexible Accumulation 51 Dualism in the Service Sector 53 Structural Unemployment, Inequality, and the Broken Contract 56 Conclusions 60 WORK IN THE FLEXIBLE ECONOMY 63 Labor Market Segmentation 64 Work in the Accord Years: The Stable Workplace 66 Good Jobs: Blue-Collar Jobs in the Primary Labor Market 66 Good Jobs: White-Collar Jobs in the Primary Labor Market 70 Bad Jobs: The Secondary Labor Market 71 Work in the Post-Accord Years: The Flexible Workplace 72 Good Jobs: Dynamically Flexible Workers 73 Bad Jobs: Statically Flexible Workers 75 The Challenge to Education 82 Education in the Accord Era 82 Education and the Emerging Economy 84 Conclusions 86 FLEXIBLE FAMILIES 89 From Preindustrial Families to Modern Families 90 The Agrarian Family as Production Unit 91 The Modern Family as Consumer Unit 93 Accord-Era Families 96 The Implicit Contract: Homemakers and Breadwinners 97 Breakdown of the Accord Family 99 Forming Flexible Families 103 Flexible Specialization and the Middle Class 104 Numerical Flexibility and the Working Class 106 The New Economy and the Underclass 108 The Feminization of Poverty 110 Conclusions 111 THE CHANGING ROLE OF GOVERNMENT 115 Levels of Government Involvement 116 The Uninvolved State 117 The Protection of Property 118 Regulation of Employment Relations 121 Depression, War, and the End of an Era 124 The Involved State 126 The Welfare State 126 The Warfare State 131 Tensions in the Involved State 134 The Distracted State 137 Globalization of the Economy 138 Fiscal Crisis 141 Technological Distractions 143 New Social Movements 144 Conclusions 147 CULTURE IN A CHANCING WORLD 149 Culture: The Creation of Meaning 150 Culture Versus Social Structure 151 The Social Contract as Cultural Metaphor 153 Forces of Cultural Change 154 Faith, Hope, and Culture 156 Fundamentalism and Social Change 158 Religion and the Emerging Social Contract 162 Globalization and Cultural Change 163 The Impact of Immigration 163 The Challenge of Multiculturalism 165 The Impact of Technology 168 Conclusions 172 fci TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE 175 The Decline of the Postwar Social Contract, Revisited 177 A New Era of Flexibility 178 Possible Worlds 181 A Pessimistic View of the Future 182 An Optimistic View of the Future 184 Conclusions 187 REFERENCES i89 GLOSSARY/INDEX 199
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