A threefold relationship to work: transformation of public services and occupational identity

During the last 2 decades the public administration and the public services have undergone far-reaching transformations that resulted in substantial changes in work and employment. This contribution discusses the question as to how workers perceive these upheavals and what consequences these have fo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ÖZS. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie 2014-09, Vol.39 (3), p.199-219
Main Authors: Flecker, Jorg, Krenn, Manfred, Tschernitz, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Doctors
Empirical Methods
Employment
Hospitals
Identity
Physicians
Power
Public Administration
Public Sector
Public Services
Towns
Work
Workers
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the last 2 decades the public administration and the public services have undergone far-reaching transformations that resulted in substantial changes in work and employment. This contribution discusses the question as to how workers perceive these upheavals and what consequences these have for their occupational identity. Based on empirical research on an Austrian town the authors show how local government employees, doctors and nurses at the community hospital and the post office's deliverers and counter clerks interpret the transformations in particular from the perspective of their occupational self-conception. The article makes clear that using the concept of a threefold relationship to work makes it easier to understand workers' perceptions, interpretations and reactions. Such a threefold relationship to work includes a labour power perspective, a subject perspective and the public sector ethos. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:1011-0070
DOI:10.1007/s11614-014-0138-2