The Many Futures of Work: Rethinking Expectations and Breaking Molds

Description

What will work eventually look like? This is the question at the heart of this timely collection. The editors and contributors—a mix of policy experts, academics, and advocates—seek to reframe the typical projections of the “future” of work. They examine the impact of structural racism on work, the loss of family‑sustaining jobs, the new role of gig work, growing economic inequality, barriers to rewarding employment such as age, gender, disability, and immigration status, and the business policies driving these ongoing challenges.  Together the essays present varied and practical insights into both U.S. and global trends, discuss the role of labor activism in furthering economic justice, and examine progressive strategies to improve the experience of work, wages, and the lives of workers. The Many Futures of Work offers a range of viable policies and practices that can promote rewarding employment and steer our course away from low-wage, unstable jobs toward jobs that lead to equitable prosperity and economic inclusion. Contents List of Illustrations Foreword by Peter Georgescu Acknowledgments Introduction: Achieving the Promise of Work | Peter A. Creticos Part I. The Impact of Bias and Structural Inequality on Work 1. Preparing for the Future of Work in Regions and Cities | Jonathan Barr and Karen E. Maguire 2. Gender and the U.S. Labor Market: Change and Continuity | Ruth Milkman 3. The Futures of Work and People with Disabilities | Susanne M. Bruyère 4. Are Immigrants Underskilled, or Are Their Jobs Underskilled? | Rob Paral 5. Structural Racism and Stratification: Understanding Racial Inequality in the American Workforce | Patrick L. Mason Part II. Rising Economic Inequality: The Elephant in the Room 6. What’s Behind the Increase in Wage Inequality? | Eileen Appelbaum 7. The Investment Triad and Sustainable Prosperity | William Lazonick 8. Intersections and Barriers: Economic Justice and the Futures of Work in Our Hemisphere | Oscar A. Chacón and Amy Shannon Part III. The Platform ECONOMY and Gig Workers: Expectations, Challenges, and Opportunities 9. The Original Gig Economy | James Bau Graves 10. Vorsprung durch Technik: The Futures of Work, Digital Technology, and the Platform Economy | Chris Warhurst, Chris Mathieu, and Sally Wright 11. Entrepreneurial Finance in the Platform Economy Era: What Consequences for Labor? | Martin Kenney and John Zysman Part IV. The Role of Labor Activism in the Twenty-First Century 12. One Fair Wage: The Only Just Way Forward | Saru Jayaraman and Devan Shea 13. Hatching Labor’s Phoenix: Sparking Mass Union Organizing in the United States | Stephen Herzenberg 14. New Frontiers of Worker Power: Challenges and Opportunities in the Modern Economy | Michelle Miller and Eric Harris Bernstein Part V. Paths to the Future 15. Bending the Futures and Meanings of Work, Careers, and Life-Course Pathways | Phyllis Moen 16. Commonwealth Companies: A Path to Restore Workers’ Rights and Economic Democracy | Thomas Croft and Annie Malhotra 17. Property Not Pay: Restoring the Middle through Ownership | Christopher Mackin 18. An Authentic “Right to Work” | William A. Darity Jr. and Darrick Hamilton Conclusion: Moving from “The Many Futures of Work” to “Achieving the Promise of Work” | Peter A. Creticos Editors and Contributors Index