Organizations, Occupations, and Labor (OOL)



Department of Sociology
University of California, Irvine
2004-07
Overview

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The study of organizations, occupations, and labor has long occupied a central place in sociological analysis.  At UCI, sociologists studying organizations, occupations, and labor focus on the dynamics of change, inequality, social structure, and decision-making.  Faculty members in this cluster pursue these themes from a variety of theoretical perspectives using multiple methods.   Because of this diversity, research activities by members working in this field overlap with a number of other fields within the Department, especially social networks, political sociology/social movements, social inequality, global change, and research methods.  Sociology faculty members also actively participate in the Center for Organizational Research (COR).  COR brings together UCI faculty and students studying organizations from through out the UCI campus in joint research projects, intellectual workshops, and graduate seminars.

FACULTY

Nina Bandelj
economic sociology; social networks; global inequality and change; culture; quantitative and qualitative methods

Matt Huffman
race/gender inequality in organizations and occupations; quantitative methods


Carter Butts
social networks; decision-making; economic sociology; mathematical modeling
Calvin Morrill**
organization theory; political analysis of organizations; organizational change and conflict; cultural-institutional approaches; law & society; sociology of youth; qualitative field methods
   

Katherine Faust
social networks, social methods

Joy Pixley
work and family; sex stratification; gender roles; survey methods


Martha Feldman*
organization theory; organizational change; decision making; qualitative field methods

Judy Stepan-Norris
labor unions; sociology of work; sociology of the professions; comparative historical methods


Lin Freeman
social networks; social structure and cognition; quantitative methods

 

* Also affiliated with the Department of Planning, Policy, and Design, School of Social Ecology.
** Cluster coordinator.

Graduate Courses and Field Exam
To qualify for a graduate field exam and/or expertise in OOL, students must take at least two core courses and one elective course in the field.

Core Courses: Networks and Organizations; Organization Theory; Work and Industrial Relations

Elective Courses: Economic Sociology; Gender and Work; Organizational Inequality; Political Analysis of Organizations; Power and Empowerment in Organizations; special topic courses.

OOL Two-year Teaching Plan
2004-05

Fall: Culture and Consumption (special topic course, Frank)
Winter: Power and Empowerment in Organizations (Feldman)
Spring: Work and Industrial Relations (Stepan-Norris)
Networks and Organizations (Butts)

2005-06

Fall: (No OOL courses offered.)
Winter: Organizational Inequality (Huffman)
Power and Empowerment in Organizations (Feldman)
Spring: Organization Theory (Morrill)

2006-07

Fall: Sociology of Strikes (Stepan-Norris)
Economic Sociology (Bandelj)
Winter: Movements, Organizations, and Society (Zald)
Spring: Networks and Organizations (Butts)

 

Selected Research Projects Currently Underway by OOL Faculty

  • Organizational and social network determinants of foreign direct investment in Eastern Europe     
  • The effects of law and organizational context on legal consciousness in high schools
  • The historical relationships between union leadership, union democracy and workers' consciousness in American unions
  • Social inequality and work-family benefits in U.S. workplaces
  • The roles of organizational routines in organizational learning and change
  • Social network approaches to economic, political, and organizational change
  • Mathematically modeling organizational decision making involving risk assessment
  • How dual-earner couples make decisions about career opportunities that involve moving
  • The role of collective action in institutional and organizational change

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