Abstract
Reviewed by: Kevin Lyons, University of Newcastle, Australia
The idiom ‘imitation is the greatest form of flattery’ could easily be applied to Just Work: Narratives of Employment in the 21st Century by Grant Michelson and Shaun Ryan (2014). The authors indicate very early in the first chapter that their book was written in the tradition of the highly influential Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Terkel (1974) over 40 years ago. However, treating this current book as little more than an updated version of Working would overlook the significant contribution it makes to employment studies and the sociology of work more broadly. It is a stand-alone contribution that I believe is sorely needed in an academic world devoid of sense-making narratives. I have resisted the temptation to compare Just Work directly to Working. Instead, I have judged this book on its own merits.
Michelson and Ryan (2014) have successfully celebrated the work of Studs Terkel by continuing in the tradition of narrative work unfettered by the voice of the researchers. The result is a fascinating insight into the experiences of a diverse range of individuals who have shared not just their work stories, but also their life stories with the authors. Michelson and Ryan make those stories available verbatim. The only additional text offered by the authors comes in the first and last chapters. The only exception is the occasional provision of the questions the researchers used to tease out more detail from the storytellers.
In the opening chapter, the authors attempt to synthesize the nature and function of work over the 40 years since Terkel wrote his book. Inevitably, this is cursory and does little more than introduce a few selected key issues that have emerged in the literature. The chapter also evokes Budd’s (2011) 10 concepts of work to highlight the relatively obvious conclusion that work is experienced differently by different workers. While many of these themes and concepts are indeed reflected in the narratives that follow, the forced structure of this opening chapter seems incongruous with the reflexive and inductive style that dominates the book. Despite this minor and perhaps unavoidable false start, the bulk of the next half a dozen chapters is captivating.
Many of the themes identified in the opening chapter are indeed captured in the stories in this book. Stories of having to adapt to new technologies, of the work–life imbalance, of work identity, and other key themes are scattered throughout the chapters. Thankfully, the authors have not attempted to force these stories together into themes. Instead, each chapter focuses upon the stories of individuals whose work has similar functionality. However, the variety and uniqueness of the voices captured in each chapter provide depth and richness equally as fascinating as the stories shared by Studs Terkel all those years ago. For example, the chapter entitled ‘Helping People’ is particularly powerful, capturing diverse experiences. One moment I learned about Weihui – a registered nurse who must manage her emotions when one of her patients dies. The next, I was introduced to Luwigi, a business systems manager who shared his epiphany that his staff were scared of him.
In many ways, this is a book of very personal vignettes or small case studies that could be used by those who teach classes in the sociology of work, employment studies, or human resource management at either undergraduate or graduate levels. These stories lend themselves to being unpacked and explored using a range of theoretical and conceptual lenses. This book also constitutes a time capsule snapshot of work in the early 21st century that can be contrasted with the narratives that Terkel provided 40 years ago. This would be useful to any scholar interested in exploring the changing nature and experience of work over time. Forty years from now, I hope a similarly able writing team emerges who provides the next volume of narrative work keeping this tradition alive. The concluding chapter, although a little brief, along with a brief profiling in the appendix of those whose stories were told in this book, certainly sets a framework for such a comparison down the track. A final nod to the power of narrative work is captured very effectively in the final appendix, where the two authors courageously tell their own stories.