{"title":"Getting In but Not Getting On: Inequality Regimes, Usurpation and Resistance in the Medical Profession","authors":"Carol Atkinson, Carol Woodhams","doi":"10.1177/09500170261447211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261447211","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores inequality regimes in medicine, examining structures that create social closure and explaining the under-representation of women from racio-ethnic minorities at senior levels and in high-status specialties. We juxtapose these with agency to evidence how inequality regimes are experienced and navigated through accommodatory usurpation and everyday resistance. Drawing on 26 interviews with women of varying racio-ethnic backgrounds, the findings illustrate deeply embedded inequality regimes that maintain White, male norms; individual agency did not change these regimes, meaning women could progress only where they could comply with them. We contribute to the understanding of inequality in medicine, where women’s experiences remain under-researched. We also contribute to inequalities theory and the understanding of change by offering a rare juxtaposition of structural inequality with individual agency to evidence the latter’s limitations. We argue that collective agency is needed to create radical change and enable women’s progression. Practically, we argue for collective organisational change driven, potentially, by coalition building.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148499110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Troy Heffernan, Academy of the Oppressed: Paulo Freire and How Academics Lost Control of the University HeffernanTroyAcademy of the Oppressed: Paulo Freire and How Academics Lost Control of the UniversityLondon: Emerald Publishing, 2024, £75 hbk, (ISBN: 9781804553176), 152 pp.","authors":"Francisca Álvarez-Figueroa","doi":"10.1177/09500170261453271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261453271","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Of Labour and Love : A Film-Based Analysis of the Dispositif of Debt Bondage","authors":"Omer Nazir, Majid Khan","doi":"10.1177/09500170261426820","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261426820","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores how debt relations entrap workers through complex power dynamics involving employers, intermediaries, and local lenders. Using a Foucauldian framework, we introduce the concept of the <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">dispositif of debt bondage</jats:italic> to analyse how debt produces bonded subjects while maintaining control via everyday life practices. Central to our study is a 14-minute documentary – <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Of Labour and Love</jats:italic> , which depicts lived experiences of debt-bonded kiln workers. Our analysis demonstrates that debt bondage is not merely an isolated exploitative labour arrangement but a structural feature of labour relations, particularly in Indian brick kilns, deeply embedded in relations of exchange, power and meaning. The paper contributes by extending the understanding of debt bondage as a set of relations that shape and control behaviours, making <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">work on self</jats:italic> essential for the reproduction of indebtedness and subsequently producing debt-bonded labour.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Jan Drahokoupil and Kurt Vandaele (eds), A Modern Guide to Labour and the Platform Economy DrahokoupilJanVandaeleKurt (eds) A Modern Guide to Labour and the Platform EconomyCheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2021, £152.00 hbk, (ISBN: 9781788975094), 384 pp.","authors":"Peter Bloom","doi":"10.1177/09500170261446226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261446226","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"20 1","pages":"667-669"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Tim Butcher, Creative Work Beyond Precarity: Learning to Work Together ButcherTimCreative Work Beyond Precarity: Learning to Work TogetherRoutledge: London and New York, 2023, £23.39 ebk, (ISBN: 9781003162025), 98 pp.","authors":"Alexandrina Vanke","doi":"10.1177/09500170261446222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261446222","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"155 1","pages":"669-671"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Franz Nicolay, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music NicolayFranzBand People: Life and Work in Popular MusicAustin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2024, US$29.95 hbk, (ISBN: 9781477323533), 296 pp.","authors":"John Preston","doi":"10.1177/09500170261446224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261446224","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Anette Hallin, Christoffer Andersson, Lucia Crevani, Caroline Ingvarsson, Chris Ivory, Inti Lammi, Eva Lindell and Anna Uhlin, Creating the Future of Work: Imaginaries in an Era of Digitalization HallinAnetteAnderssonChristofferCrevaniLuciaIngvarssonCarolineIvoryChrisLammiIntiLindellEvaUhlinAnnaCreating the Future of Work: Imaginaries in an Era of DigitalizationCheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2025, £75.00 hbk, (ISBN: 9781035324477), 138 pp.","authors":"Suzanne Couloigner","doi":"10.1177/09500170261446204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261446204","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Jean-Philippe Deranty, The Case for Work DerantyJean-PhilippeThe Case for WorkOxford: Oxford University Press, 2024, £119.00 hbk, (ISBN: 9780192887146), 432pp.","authors":"Amin Mataji","doi":"10.1177/09500170261446201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261446201","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefania Marino, Heather Connolly, Miguel Martinez Lucio, Holly Smith
{"title":"Burning Down the House? On the ‘New-wave’ Literature on Worker Representation, and the Case for the Space Between","authors":"Stefania Marino, Heather Connolly, Miguel Martinez Lucio, Holly Smith","doi":"10.1177/09500170261432083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261432083","url":null,"abstract":"A growing and significant ‘new-wave’ of literature maintains that studies on equality and inclusion in labour representation would benefit from a stronger focus on collective action led by (migrant) precarious workers, both within but especially beyond established unions. The debate also incorporates and overlaps with the growing recognition of intersectional approaches to industrial relations and the need to think more inclusively about identities at work. Starting from a reflection on these theoretical developments, the article discusses the (direct or indirect) implications of this literature for the established forms of interest representation and argues that the move to a more inclusive and less institutionalised approach would benefit from a greater sensitivity to organisational tensions and representative claims. In particular, it cautions against a binary and deterministic notion of worker organising and makes the case for considering the ‘space between’, which allows for a recognition of the ambivalent nature of trade unions.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}