Information Society and the Workplace

Much has been written on the grand prospects for "Information Society"; much less on what this might mean in everyday terms. So what do we find when we look at what is happening in a society, Finland, that is one of closest to an information society? Bringing together studies of everyday local practices in workplaces within information society, this book has a special focus on social space and the agency of actors. It includes both theoretical reviews and detailed qualitative research. It also highlights the political challenges of the information society, challenges which are likely to become subjects of international concern.

Tuula Heiskanen is Research Director of the Work Research Centre, a unit of multidisciplinary working life studies in the Research Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland. She has studied professional and industrial work, work organizations in both public and private sectors, and both male- and female-dominated organizations. She is co-editor of Gendered Practices in Working Life (Macmillan 1997). Jeff Hearn is Research Professor in Sociology, University of Huddersfield, UK, and Academy Fellow and Professor at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki, Finland. His interest in information society comes particularly from research on gender, sexuality, violence and ICTs. His many books include Gender, Sexuality and Violence in Organizations (Sage 2001).

Part 1 Introduction; Chapter 1 Spaces, Places and Communities of Practice, Tuula Heiskanen; Part 2 The Creation of Spaces; Chapter 2 Bounded or Empowered by Technology?, Tarja Tiainen; Chapter 3 Gendered Local Agency, Marja Vehviläinen; Chapter 4 Empty Spaces Without Knowledge and Management, Riitta Kuusinen; Part 3 Working and Living in Spaces; Chapter 5 the Dynamics of Control and Commitment in It Firms, Sirpa Kolehmainen; Chapter 6 Virtualizing the Office, Pernilla Gripenberg; Chapter 7 Women and Technological Pleasure at Work?, Päivi Korvajärvi; Chapter 8 Fulfilment or Slavery?, Riitta Lavikka; Chapter 9 In Search of Boundaries, Riikka Kivimäki; Part 4 Concluding Discussion; Chapter 10 Information Society, Agency and Identity Positions, Tuula Heiskanen; Chapter 11 Postscript, Jeff Hearn;