Amy S. Wharton, Washington State University:
There is a growing literature on globalization, employment restructuring,
and the postindustrial workplace. Much of that work may already be obsolete,
however, as recent evidence suggests that both the cynics and the optimists are
wrong—or, at least, only partly right. Crossing the Great Divide
is among the first books that tackle this complexity head on and, in the
process, provides students and researchers with new ways to think about employment
in the 21st century.
Stephen R. Barley, Stanford University:
The changing nature of employment relations in the United States in the
late twentieth century is not only a topic of considerable importance in industrial
relations, organization studies, and economics; it is a topic that concerns the
average American as well. With its original approach and engaging prose,
Crossing the Great Divide will prove to be one of the most
important books ever written on the subject.
Smith examines how different groups of workers acquire the skills,
know-how, cultural and human capital, and mental aptitudes that might help them reap
the benefits of the new economy.
Robert Taylor:
Providing a welcome change of direction... Vicki Smith's book argues
convincingly that we should not take a romantic view of work in the age of mass
production.... Her research has thrown up a plausible conclusion that today's
booming US employment market with its 'turbulence, decentral-isation, variation, and
unpredictability' offers many workers what they see as an opportunity... 'to invest
themselves in their work.'.
Ruth Milkman, University of California, Los Angeles:
In Crossing the Great Divide, Vicki Smith documents
the resignation of workers to a corporate-controlled economic order in which they
are inherently disposable commodities. At the same time as she uncovers a lack of
solidaristic social movements and other alternatives that challenge the status quo,
Smith depicts the almost desperate desire of workers to find meaning and hope in the
workplace. Fascinating and beautifully written, I can't think of another book like
this.
Beth A. Rubin, University of North Carolina, Charlotte:
I am glad to include this book alongside the other recent accounts of the
variety of work experiences in the new country. Similarly, I will undoubtedly point
my students to this book for rich description of some of the felt consequences of
working in the new economy.
David Rouse:
Each of the participants in Smith's four studies must cope with the
contradictions faced by those whose jobs may be at risk but who also face new
opportunities at the same time, and she explores how workers attempt to cross 'the
great divide' and take advantage of the 'new economy.'.
Gina Neff, Columbia University:
Crossing the Great Divide is an expos' of the downside
of the risk in the new economy. Vicki Smith argues that 'temporariness and risk'
have become intertwined with workers' expectations of opportunity and advancement,
which were understood in the days of the old economy as the rewards for hard work or
even dedication.
