Work and Labor

This article reflects on the combination of theory-based empirical analysis and empirically grounded theoretization that is characteristic of the German-language sociology of work and industrial sociology. It discusses three central strands of research on the modification of paid work associated with the transformation of capitalism: first, the topics of flexibilization, boundary blurring, subjectivation, and precarization; second, performance policies and the demands and claims in paid work; and third, the discourse around the digitalization of work. In doing so, the article describes developments within the German-language sociology of work and industrial sociology and portrays its contributions and relevance to a broader discussion of the consolidation and transformation of paid work in capitalist societies.