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Colin C Williams

Selected Works

2012

Livelihoods

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Business

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an internet survey of 5,500 people living in the city of Sheffield in England. This resulted in 418 valid responses (a 7.6 …

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Blurring The Formal/Informal Economy Divide: Beyond A Dual Economies Approach, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin Dec 2011

Blurring The Formal/Informal Economy Divide: Beyond A Dual Economies Approach, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin

Colin C Williams

The need to integrate work beyond employment into discussions of labor practices is widely recognized. This has been so far largely achieved by adopting a dual economies perspective, which is criticized for depicting the formal and informal sectors as separate hostile worlds. To resolve this, an alternative “total social organization of labor” approach is here proposed that maintains the terms formal and informal as useful broad descriptors of different work relations, but recognizes a spectrum from purely formal to purely informal labor practices cross-cut by another spectrum from wholly monetized to wholly non-monetized labor practices. Reporting evidence from 861 face-to-face …

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Evaluating The Persistence Of Subsistence Work In Contemporary Economies: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers Dec 2011

Evaluating The Persistence Of Subsistence Work In Contemporary Economies: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers

Colin C Williams

Purpose – Contrary to the view that the subsistence economy is some minor residue persisting in
only a few peripheral enclaves of modern economies, the purpose of this paper is to begin to chart the
importance and prevalence of subsistence work across the contemporary economic landscape and the
reasons underpinning engagement in this form of non-commodified labour.
Design/methodology/approach – To do so, the extent of, and reasons for, subsistence production
amongst those living in contemporary Moscow is evaluated using face-to-face interviews with
313 households in affluent, mixed and deprived districts.
Findings – It was found that subsistence work is a …

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From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types …

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