ABSTRACT
Sociology emerged and developed as a way of coming to terms with fundamental changes associated with industrialisation and the rise of capitalism. Changes in the way work is organised and experienced have been at the heart of the social and historical shifts with which sociology has always engaged. And the most useful way to characterise the basic modern form of social organisation is as 'industrial capitalism'. The criterion of rationality involves submitting decisions and actions to constant calculative scrutiny and produces a continuous drive towards change. A key concept used in the analysis of social organisation and social change since the early stage of industrialisation has been that of a division of labour. A pattern of industrial organisation and employment policy in which skilled and trusted labour is used continuously to develop and customise products for small markets. Postmodernity sees a reshaping of activities across the globe with trends towards both globalisation and more localised activity.
