Edizioni FrancoAngeli - Last issue of SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO (125/2012)

Editorial

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Laura Zanfrini
Persistent stereotypes and myths of ageing in societies and cultures influence the attitudes and behaviours of leaders and colleagues in social and professional contexts. The aim of this article is to analyse the leader’s perception of their own ageing and of the ageing of their employees as well as the attitudes and behaviour of leaders towards individualised, age-related leadership. This research draws on Weber’s social closure theory and Luhmann’s inclusion/ exclusion theory to explain age discrimination as a cultural process and to understand t he i nfluence o f s tatus a nd p ower o n i nteractive l eadership behaviour towards older employees. The article presents the concept of individualised, age-related leadership and an empirical analysis of the four social dimensions associated with this concept, aiming at a better understanding of age perceptions and images of leaders, and of their leadership attitudes and behaviours towards older and ageing employees.

Paradigms and approaches in the management of the labour force’s ageing: a critical review

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Francesco Marcaletti
Starting from a review of recent literature, the article reconstructs determinants, concepts and models through which the definition of labour force management strategies in Europe has been reached, due to the aging that is investing it. The path under focus is the one concerning the shaping of a speech on the subject of older workers and of the work of older people, and the concurrent defining of paradigms that underlie the practice of managing the work of older and of the different ages at work. On the first side, we find the dimensions affecting the public policies in their articulation for levels and for areas of responsibility; on the second side, we find the patterns and the practices of the management of the age at work gathered under the label of "age management". The frame of this process is represented by the relevance that on the interpretive plan have gained the neo-institutional analysis and the life course perspective.

Active ageing as capacity and practices to be experienced and learned

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Tiziana Tesauro
The aim of the paper is contributing to define a problematic conceptual category as the “active ageing” one is, without circumvent the multiplicity of the aspects encompassed by the concept itself, by proposing its reconceptualization. Therefore, the paper presents the thesis that the older active people are representing a social group in embryo, nor yet well identified and identifiable neither yet classified by the official statistics as well as much less beneficiary of public policies. This happens due to the coincidence of the active ageing with the work life extension, by encompassing the concept within the economic approach. As a result, within the subjective experiences in the daily life, the seniority is increasingly interpreted in terms of autonomy, responsibility, activity, creativity, although the individual paths are seldom collectively thought, practiced and defended by the welfare systems.

Thirty years of work ability and twenty years of age management

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Juhani Ilmarinen
The work ability and age management have a long history in Finland. Work ability research started in early 1980s aiming to study how long are people able to work. Because the managers indicated to have the strongest role for changes in work ability the concept of Age Management was introduced in early 1990s. The recent activities in Finland are focusing on national surveys with Wai, and developing practical training, coaching and consulting tools for work organizations. The thirty years of Work Ability and twenty years of Age management that from Finland have spread worldwide give an evidence based background for better and longer work life.

Lifelong Learning and Work Quality: Two Approaches for Coping with Demographic Change

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Werner Pramstrahler
In the world of work, demographic change is one of today’s biggest challenges. The necessary raising of the retirement age can be effected in a socially acceptable way only by boosting the quality of work for all the workers. A look at the countries of Scandinavia shows that two aspects are of special importance: the involvement of workers in lifelong learning and the organization and planning of work, so as to provide workers with more autonomy and sense of responsibility in performing their tasks. Against the increasing commodification of work within companies, and in the perspective of the increase in the indirect forms of monitoring work outputs, the provision of greater autonomy level and responsibility becomes ambivalent. As a result, forms of participation are needed to make the workplace environment, the work organization, the company and the area of health management and promotion accessible to democratic discussion.

Retirement - Not Necessarily a Farewell to Work Life

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Anne Inga Hilsen, Robert Salomon
Due to financial and demographic reasons, many countries are trying to increase the actual retirement age. Pension reforms are taking place in countries such as France, Greece and the UK. Norway has recently introduced a new pension reform from January 1st 2011 to encourage longer work life careers. These reforms may lead to a variety of options on life/work balance choices at the later stages of working life. Based on earlier studies, the article illustrate the identification of a three overlapping phases of good managerial practices and worker responses affecting the employment of older workers by developing an analytical model ("a three phase perspective on senior policies") of organisational orientations towards older workers. This paper focuses on a possible fourth phase at the end of the working career as well as the transition from work to retirement. The fourth phase consists of both an economic and a social link between employer and employee.

Social Partners: out with Early Exit, in with Learning and Career Development for Senior Employees?

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Tarja Tikkanen
The purpose of the paper is to present findings from a Nordic survey on social partners’ policy and practice in regards of the older workers. The survey aimed to find out to what extent the social partners have developed policies and outlined strategies, which explicitly address the demographic change and promote opportunities for lifelong learning and career development among their senior members (45+). The survey was carried out as a part of the work in the network Older workers in the Nordic countries (Own) supported by the Nordic Council. The findings showed, on one hand, that while some social partners have started very good work, for many others the issues of lifelong learning and opportunities for career development for older workers are not on their agenda. The study concludes that there is a need for a more active approach from social partners to provide support and encouragement for learning and development for their senior members.

Age Constructions and Age Images of Leaders within the Concept of Individualised, Age-related Leadership

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Cordula Braedel-Kuhner, Henk van Elst

Reviewing Policies after the English Riots

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Richard Ennals
At a time of change and disorder, this article argues that the whole range of government policies need to be reviewed, and reconceptualised in terms of generations and relations between generations. This article concentrates on the UK, from a European perspective, and with particular reference to the Scandinavian Model. In the context of crisis, new initiatives are required, taking account of transitions during the life course, relations between generations, and sustainability. The perspective of the Ageing Workforce casts light across the spectrum of policy areas. It is a moving picture, not a snapshot.

Innovation, technology and governance: the role of universities in the recovery of local economies

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT

Francesco Orazi
The article, starting from some innovative hypothesis of governance (Network of Competence), describes the strategic role of the University within knowledgebased economies, highlighting scenarios of modernization of territorial systems. The aim is to verify the conditions of persistence, within Italian districts (Third Italy), of favorable conditions for the development of innovative factories based on the knowledge and technology factors and characterized by reticular and virtual operational capabilities. On one hand, the result of the research offers a specific practice of governance for institutional coordination of development resources and, on the other hand, a web-based connective mainstream for the strategic interaction between productive, institutional and social actors in order to increase the growth of local and virtual activities of networking.

Abstracts

Fri, 15 Mar 2012 8:00:00 GMT