Work Without Boundaries

Michael Allvin is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Uppsala University and a licensed Psychologist.   Gunnar Aronsson is Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University.Tom Hagström is Professor Emeritus of Education in the Department of Education, Stockholm University and a licensed Psychologist.Gunn Johansson is Professor Emeritus of Work Psychology in the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University. Ulf Lundberg is Professor of Biological Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University, and at the Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), affiliated with Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

• About the Authors viiForeword by Cary L. Cooper ixPreface xiAcknowledgments xiii1 The New Work 1The new inequality 4New markets and new structures 7The new work life 13What is so new about “The New Work”? 16The new and the old work 18The purpose and structure of this book 222 The New Rules of Work: On Flexible Work and How to Manage It 25Flexible work 29Flexibility through empowerment 35Flexibility through substitution 48Separate paths? 603 The New Work Life and the Dimensions of Knowledge 69The cognitive knowledge demands 71The social knowledge demands 81The societal knowledge demands 97The existential knowledge demands 107Some concluding considerations 1204 The Place of Work in Life 123Separate spheres 126Competing spheres 129Coping with boundaries 130Mutually favored spheres 133New conditions outside work life: the consumption society 134The moral supermarket 138The market aesthetic 141The new family 144Organizing living 149Conflict and balance in life 158An individual matter 1625 Work Life, Stress, and the New Ill Health 163Stress as a social problem and research area 167Stress models for the work life 172The new work life as a source of stress 189The new ill health 205The new ill health, work environment, and the possibility space of work 2126 Some Concluding Comments and Reflections 217The deregulation of working life 218The individualization of working life 219The heterogenization of working life 220The new inequality 221New strains and symptoms 222Flexibility and power in times of economic recession 223Future – trust or new forms and fields for external regulation? 225References 229Index 253