ABSTRACT
It would be an over-simplification to suggest that European writers have been largely responsible for the development of social theories of work. It would be misleading to argue that American writers have dominated the sociology of work. Moreover, it would be ridiculous to claim that these European and North American traditions have developed independently. However, European theorists have often paid more attention to American sociology than the Americans have paid to their theories (see for example Korczynski et al. 2006), perhaps because they worried about a shortage of empirical rigour. While obsessive empiricism could blind researchers to the most important changes in work (Burawoy 2009; Glucksmann 2009b), free-floating theory might not just lead to fantasy but dangerous ideology (Rose 1988: 291). The way in which European sociologies have themselves sought to negotiate this difficult passage is the focus of this chapter.
