Programme full

Friday 17 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 7
of recognising our location in traditions to overcome instrumentalism rather than juxtapose religious and secular
discourse. Habermas, it is argued, unwittingly ends up replicating an instrumental approach to public dialogue.
Work, Employment and Economic Life 1
A005, GOVAN MBEKI BUILDING
Work and Political Socialization: A Reappraisal
Surdez, M.
(University of Fribourg)
How does workplace impact political socialization, in a context where economic pressure and changing working
conditions increase individual performance and weaken the importance of professional organizations? We would like
to re-examine this question that sociologists of work have left to sociologists of social structures or political scientists.
Debates in these latter fields have indeed concluded that further research is needed. Analysis at class level is not
accurate enough, as it involves too many dimensions (economic, cultural, social capital). We base our analysis on two
assumptions. Firstly, the specificity of professional groups must be taken into account. Secondly, day-to-day working
lives as well as career paths are important features that shape political opinions one might develop. We also need to
take into account that professional environment can contribute to political apathy rather than reinforce political or civic
commitment.
Our contribution is based on a Swiss qualitative study about two kinds of professional managers working in the private
sector, engineers active in the innovative segment of nanotechnology and human resources directors working in bank
and watch-making industry.
Our results show that members of these two groups have not the same way to tackle political issues. Engineers insist
on a scientific and informative approach, whereas human resources directors highlight originality and diversity as core
values. In parallel, we observe divisions within the two groups, due to distinct types of careers and of sociability at
work as well as to out-group sociability (family and friendship). This approach could be extended to other professional
groups.
Professionalization in Social Movement Organizations and Its Effect on Working Conditions
Kandlik Eltanani, M.
(University of Edinburgh)
In the last decades Social Movement Organizations (SMOs) went through processes of professionalization, which are
reflected in their transition from being based primarily on volunteers, to employing on a wide scale. This presentation
will investigate the effects of professionalization processes in Israeli peace SMOs on working conditions, as well as
the way other organizational characteristics are related to working conditions. The results presented are based on a
randomly sampled survey of 200 workers from 32 organizations, two workshops with organizations' representatives,
and several in-depth interviews with workers and employers. The operationalization of professionalization will be
discussed, including indirect measures such as size and budget of the organization, and direct measures such as the
division of labour within an organization. Other organizational attributes considered include gender and nationality
composition, and the area of activity for the organization. These factors in the organizational level are used alongside
individual-level factors within a multilevel framework to measure their effect of working conditions, such as salary,
working hours and tenure. Examining these effects together enables me to look not only at the effect of historical and
organizational processes of working conditions, but also on aspects of responsibility: How much of the variation in
working conditions in these organizations is determined by the individual workers, and how much is determined by the
organizations?
Paradoxes of Aidwork: Work Experiences of People Working in Aid
Roth, S.
(University of Southampton)
Paid and unpaid work in development cooperation and humanitarian relief —or aidwork – has found little attention in
the sociology of work which has typically focused on employment while activism and volunteering have been so far
found less attention. Unpaid internships, short-term contracts and limited career opportunities are common in the aid
BSA Annual Conference 2015 282
Glasgow Caledonian University