ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book develops an understanding of the limitations of Marxist analysis of gender, 'race' and class. It explores how the sociology of women and paid work has been affected by some theoretical shifts. By re-examining a number of key ethnographic studies on women's work which were framed by the theoretical debates, the book illustrates the tendency towards description rather than analysis when the concept of 'gender' is framed as a sex-role rather than as a process in order to show the limitations of the 'sex-role' conceptualisation of gender. It also examines the sexual division of labour amongst computer programmers in a number of computer software houses. The book then examines the debates on gender, technology and power and provides an alternative reading to the account which has dominated much of the literature on women's relationship with technology.
