ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a short presentation of work in the context of the history of ideas. It provides arguments for evaluating the contribution of various occupations to the good of society and concludes with some thoughts on welfare and the common good. The book focuses on the increased externalisation of work, so-called vertical disintegration, in the organisation of industry services as well as in manufacturing, which means that certain processes are performed by separate companies rather than within one integrated company. It discusses that established theories and methods in the field of working life have contributed to hide the fact that work is structured according to gender. The book describes the Spanish labour market and the fact that women enter a segmented labour market where they are underrepresented at the core, but overrepresented on the periphery.
