Rethinking Work

"David Blustein and Lisa Flores have curated a remarkable collection of essays in which some of the world’s finest minds tackle one of the world’s most urgent questions: How can we make the modern workplace more humane and just? The voices and perspectives in this timely book will spark you to think bigger and will equip you with the ideas and practices to transform both workforce policies and your own work life."

Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drive; When, and The Power of Regret

"Blustein and Flores have given us an amazing gift in their edited book, Rethinking Work; the gift of reimagination. This book intricately weaves together a tapestry of essays that reimagine our relationship to work, and introduce provocative possibilities about humanity at the center of work. The authors call readers to the metaphorical dinner table to speak to us from their hearts as they discuss implications of the current inflection point in the world of work and then invite us to step outside to have a fireside chat and wrestle with the questions raised at the table. If you are ready for out-of-the-box thinking to build a better workplace, this it!"

Angela Byars-Winston is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA and senior author of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report entitled The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM

"This rich and compelling series of essays describes, prescribes, and proscribes policies and practices in the world of work. The authors portray the importance of work for a wide variety of populations, paying particular attention to the plight of oppressed and marginalized communities. But the contributors go far beyond describing the current state of affairs; they offer persuasive and practical recommendations for imagining thriving workplaces around the world. This magnificent book will enlighten the mind and empower the spirit to do better, to work better, and to live better. I highly recommend it to leaders, workers, students, and policy makers."

Isaac Prilleltensky is the Mautner Endowed Chair in Community Well-Being at the University of Miami, USA, and co-author, with Ora Prilleltensky, of How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society

"The answer to the common question "What do you do?" is usually one's occupation, because work is so fundamental to one's identity. Much deeper questions follow this basic one: "Can decent work be accessible and equitable for all?," "How are technology and globalization affecting the nature of jobs, education, and the labor market?," and "Who all are really benefiting from our work?" Rethinking Work: Essays on Building a Better Workplace provides refreshing expert insights to questions such as these. Moreover, discovering how chapters are usefully related in addressing workplace issues is, to me, as rewarding as the chapters in their own right."

Fred Oswald, PhD., Professor and Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Science, Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, USA

"In light of the clear evidence that the institution of work is not working for individuals or society, this thoughtful and thought-provoking volume brings together voices from across the globe to reimagine a people-focused future of work. It is through imaginative exercises such as these that one sees a pathway to a more hopeful future of work—one that is built around the ideas of decency, dignity, equity, social justice, well-being, agency, and sustainability. This book is a must-read for students, scholars, workers, organizational leaders, policy-makers, and anyone looking to understand and positively impact the institution of work."

Mindy Shoss, Professor of Psychology, University of Central Florida, USA; Honorary Professor, Australian Catholic University, Australia

"By providing a sustained critique of the 'language', form and practice of work that includes a rich plethora of approaches and positions, Blustein and Flores do every policymaker, researcher, employer and employee an invaluable service.

Rethinking Work: Essays on Building a Better Workplace introduces new, thought-provoking and challenging perspectives that resonate with the challenges the world currently faces. At a time of unemployment/underemployment, precarity, the Great Resignation, automation and marginalization, this book provides an much-needed antidote, mapping paths to a more just and honest world of work that serves the interests of all members of society."

Rie Thomsen, Professor of Career Guidance, Aarhus University, Denmark

"This very timely book presents a highly informative collection of chapters that explore the various topics that should be considered as we face the many changes, challenges, and opportunities of working in the present and future. Written by some of the leading scholars in the field, the chapters provide much-needed reflections to understand better key work and career development issues on how work can be meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable for all."

Andreas Hirschi, Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland

"This book represents a major contribution to the understanding of the evolution of work and the labor market in the post-COVID period. This contribution brings to light the profound transformations of work and the function of work in the lives of the most disadvantaged people across the globe. The book constitutes an important step in helping us to develop a global view on the nature of working in the 21st century. The contributors, who represents many regions of the world, provide insights about various aspects of work, including racism and culture, inequalities, precarity, unemployment and underemployment, and technology. This must-have book provides readers with an in-depth knowledge of the major challenges that people face in our changing contemporary world."

Valérie Cohen-Scali, INETOP-Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France

"What lies ahead in the future of work, how will it change? How can we express ourselves and find value in being someone that works? Will the challenges of a strained work/life balance, race, ethnicity and gender forever weigh us down? What can be done so work can be decent and meaningful for all – is there a roadmap we can follow?

I invite you to join me in learning from the experience and knowledge that permeates this book, from seasoned researchers and writers that study work and how it affects our lives. As I read, I learned about the challenges, we face but also about what can give hope.

Can we be optimists? I think the answer from this book is an unequivocal yes!"

Ingrid Bakke, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Innland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway

"In Rethinking Work: Essays on Building a Better Workplace, Blustein and Flores provide the perfect venue to reflect on the interrelated factors impacting the current state of work, while simultaneously providing a space to begin reimagining a world of work that is more just, equitable, and fulfilling for all. Indeed, the innovation strategies, ideas, models, and tools delineated in this volume offer a starting point for transforming a system that has created differential classes of workers—those who work for survival and those who work for self-determination—to a system that lifts up ALL workers as they survive and thrive in healthier workspaces. There is no doubt that this volume of work will guide future research, training, organizational structures, management strategies, and public policy that will transform the world of work for the better."

Rachel L. Navarro, Ph.D., Professor, College of Education and Human Development, University of North Dakota, USA

"Rethinking Work: Essays on Building a Better Workplace is a wonderful collection of essays focusing on how we might reimagine work to help people and society thrive. The book is organized around seven critical themes, in which scholars and practitioners discuss the function and changing nature of work, inequalities and precariousness, race and culture, policy issues, and the role of technology. It is impressive how David Blustein and Lisa Flores have brought together these thought-provoking and highly relevant discussions that help us imagine a long-term sustainable workforce. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in a contextualized and hopeful view of modern work and careers."

Jos Akkermans, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands