Suchergebnisse

Le débat sur la dé‐qualification des travailleurs et travailleuses soulève des questions considérables sur la nature de tendances récentes rencontrées au sein de la structure de classes. A partir de ľanalyse de sondages et de données du recensement, je conclus ici que les tendances réelles dans la distribution des qualifications sont plus complexes que ne le laissent entendre les thèses opposées de la dé‐qualification et de la re‐qualification. La qualification de la main‐?oeuvre au cours des années soixante et soixante‐dix a augmentéà un rythme croissant à cause de 1'expansion ?occupations professionnelles, techniques et administratives dans la 'nouvelle classe moyenne'. Les tendances spécifiques à la classe ouvrière sont cependant plus ambiguës: les données du recensement indiquent une tendance soutenue à la re‐qualification, alors que les données de sondages conduits au début des années quatre‐vingts relèvent une brisure, une dualité des marchés du travail. Dans le passé, ce sont des redistributions dans ľemploi de la production de biens vers la production de services qui causaient des changements dans la distribution des qualifications. Les changements à venir, par contre, auront lieu pour ľessentiel au sein du secteur des services, c'est‐à‐dire là où se trouvent les emplois. Les marchés du travail de ľéconomie de services canadienne (comme ľaméricaine) sont duels en ce qui a trait à la qualification de la main‐?oeuvre. Mais des études comparatives indiquent que c'est là une caractéristique contingente, plutôt que nécessaire, ?une économie postindustrielle, qui résulte de choix politiques autant que des forces du marché.This study addresses recent debates over trends in class structure that have emerged from the deskilling debate. The general conclusion I draw from an analysis of both census and survey data is that actual patterns and trends in the skill distribution of jobs are more complex than either the 'deskilling' or 'upgrading' theses would indicate. During the sixties and seventies the skill content of the labour force grew at an accelerating rate as a result of the expansion of 'new middle class' professional, technical and managerial occupations. Patterns within working class occupations are more ambiguous: estimates based on the census distribution of occupations ranked by skill indicate a monotonic pattern of upgrading while survey results for the early eighties suggest a split or dual labour market for job skills. In the past, changes in the skill distribution were a result of a shift in employment from the production of goods to the production of services. Future changes, however, will occur largely within the service sector simply because that is where most jobs are now located. Canada's service economy, like the American, is marked by a distinctly bifurcated skill distribution. Comparative studies, however, indicate this is a contingent rather than a necessary feature of a post‐industrial economy, a result of political as well as market forces.

Canada; based on conference paper. Effect of reform efforts, problems that the current welfare state practice is unable to resolve, and possible solutions and their likely consequences.

The once predicted demise of the welfare state has not been realized, although there have been significant changes in recent years. Three perspectives on the near future of the welfare state are reviewed: one sees the modest tinkering of the last decade as slow but sure destruction of the welfare state; the second views the current situation as an equilibrium, & claims that the welfare state has grown to its ceiling; the third concludes that the welfare state is at an impasse, unable to solve specific problems of harmonizing distribution of wealth with its production. It is argued that the third perspective is the most applicable to present-day Canada. The problems that the current welfare state is unable to address are reviewed, & possible alternative institutional arrangements are suggested. A. Waters

Lanalyse qui suit présente les résultats d'une étude empirique comparant les relations sociales parmi les gens âgés demeurant au sein de la communautéà celles qui prévalent dans les foyers pour vieillards, et ce à partir d'un échantillon aléatoire de la population d'àge avancé du Manitoba pour l'année 1971. Les résultats indiquent que ces vieillards, tout comme les résidents des "ghettos gris," ont des niveaux d'interaction sociale plus élevés et plus satisfaisants que les vieillards qui demeurent au sein méLme de la communauté. De telles observations nous semblent importantes non seulement du point de vue de notre compréhension des "institutions totales," mais aussi par rapport aux problèmes plus généraux du vieillissement et du "désengagement." Le fait que la participation aux événements interactionels soit plus élevée parmi les résidents de ces foyers (et des autres "ghettos gris") correspond à cette théorie du vieillissement qui voit le "désengagement" chez les vieillards comme une réponse spécifique à la position qu'ils occupent au sein de la structure de stratification d'âges du capitalisme avancé.This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of the relationship between institutionalization and disengagement based on a random stratified sample of the elderly population of Manitoba in 1971. The results indicate that the institutionalized elderly, like other residents of "grey ghettos," have higher levels of social interaction and derive greater satisfaction from their social relations than do the elderly residing in the larger community. It is suggested that these findings are not only significant for our understanding of the nature of "total institutions" but are also suggestive with respect to the more general issue of disengagement and aging. The fact that involvement in interactional events is greater among the institutionalized elderly (and other residents of "grey ghettos") is consistent with a theory of aging which views disengagement among the elderly as a response which is historically specific to the position which they occupy within the structure of age stratification characteristic of advanced capitalism.

For more than two decades sociologists have debated the social and political consequences of an emergent postindustrial society. This comparative study addresses these debates, using original empirical data from five advanced capitalist economies - Canada, the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.