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Work plays an essential role in how we engage with the world, reflecting our desire to be productive, creative, and connected to others. By exploring the inner experiences of people at work, people seeking work, and people transitioning in and out of work, this book provides a rich and complex picture of the contemporary work experience. Drawing from extensive interviews with working people across the US, as well as insights from psychological research on work and careers, the book provides compelling evidence that the nature of work in the US is eroding-- and with powerful psychological and social consequences.
List of contents
- 1. Being alive: Work as a central role in life
- 2. Being able to survive and thrive
- 3. Being with others
- 4. Being part of something bigger than ourselves
- 5. Being motivated: Being the best we can be
- 6. Being able to care
- 7. Being able to work without oppression and harassment
- 8. Being without work
- 9. Being able to work with dignity and opportunity: A human birthright
About the author
David L. Blustein is Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. He has published over 120 journal articles and book chapters on the psychology of working, career development, work-based transitions, the exploration process, the interface between work and mental health, and the future of work. He is the author of The Psychology of Working: A New Perspective for Career Development, Counseling, and Public Policy and the editor of the Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Working. Professor Blustein is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the National Career Development Association, and the American Educational Research Association, and he is the recipient of the John Holland Award for Outstanding Achievement in Personality and Career Research, the Extended Research Award by the American Counseling Association, and an Eminent Career Award from the National Career Development
Association. In addition to his academic, scholarly, and public policy work, he also has served as a practicing counseling psychologist, providing psychotherapy and work-based counseling to adults and late adolescents.
Summary
Drawing from extensive interviews with working people across the US, as well as insights from psychological research on work and careers, The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty provides compelling evidence that the nature of work in the US is eroding-- and with powerful psychological and social consequences.
Additional text
So much of the discussion of the future of work is about machines; David Blustein prefers to focus on humans. This book is the valuable and essential missing piece in a critically important contemporary debate, focusing not on what we do for work, but on what work does for us.
