About ‘More Resources’
Here you can find external resources related to, or expanding on, the material presented in this chapter. Currently included are links to websites, links to online video clips, and suggested readings that you can find in your school or local library. If you would like access to the password-protected video library that accompanies the text, your professor can give you the username, password, and URL needed (and if your professor is not sure how to access the video library, he or she can contact an Oxford University Press sales representative for details).
Website links
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
Canadian Committee on Labour History
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
Multimedia links
A documentary entitled Poor Us, created as part of the ‘Why Poverty?’ campaign, about the history of inequality and the effects of capitalism on equality around the world:
NFB documentary short about the difficulties of finding a residency position for immigrant doctors in Quebec:
Readings: Classes and Workplaces
Jackson, A. (2010). Work and labour in Canada: Critical Issues (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholar’s Press.
This important book examines the myriad changes occurring in the Canadian labour market and in workplaces. While situating work in Canada in a global context, the author discusses work in terms of the impacts of contemporary changes upon workers. Issues of diversity are examined in detail, with chapters on young workers, older and retiring workers, and racialized and gendered workers. Jackson also pays attention to unionization and changing health and safety standards in Canada and the impacts of other policies and legislation such as free trade and so on.
Sennett, R., & Cobb, J. (1977 [1972]). The Hidden Injuries of Social Class. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
This book introduces fascinating theories about the effects of social class on people at the bottom of the class structure, including the effects on those who cannot find ways of improving their situations. For those who think “class” is a trivial abstraction, this book is an eye-opener.
Veblen, T. (2007 [1899]). The Theory of the Leisure Class. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
This classic work, a landmark study of the “upper class” of American society, outlines the habits and behaviours of the very rich, showing how they used all means possible to distance themselves from people who had to work to survive. Their strategies engaged fashion, beauty, animals, sports, business, religion, education, and so on. Veblen shows how many of the tactics used by the upper class were narcissistic and wasteful, exacerbating societal inequality in the process.
Vosko, L. (Ed.) (2005). Precarious Employment: Understanding Labour Market Insecurity in Canada. Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
This interdisciplinary book examines the multifaceted issues surrounding precarious employment in Canada, critiquing outdated ideas of standard and non-standard work along the way. Contributions to the book are made by academics, activists, and representatives of government. The various articles assist the reader in developing a fuller understanding of the causes, characteristics, and consequences of precarious work in Canada and beyond.
Warner, W.L., Meeker, M., & Eells, K. (1949). Social Class in America: A Manual of Procedure for the Measurement of Social Status. Chicago, IL: Science Research Associates.
In this classic work, the authors undermine popular beliefs that all people have equal opportunity in a democratic society. The authors outline the typical nine-level status order of societies, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich. They assert that social class permeates every aspect of our lives and influences our decisions, our experiences, and even our personal development.
2014 © Oxford University Press. All Rights Reserved
