Social Science and Social Scientists

1028 Words3 Pages

Shadow work can be described as the various forms of labour that exist outside of the formal economy or within the informal economy. Social Science plays a major part in bringing attention to the dangers, harms and hardships experienced by the individuals working in the informal economy. Social scientists have recognised that facts don’t speak for themselves and often require analysis and interpretation to produce meaning. This is especially true when dealing with shadow work and thus social scientists have developed concepts, theories and values to aid analysis and interpretation of facts. A number of different concepts have been identified to assist the interpretation of facts on shadow work some of these are power, risk, social structure and agency. Although these concepts all attempt to interpret the facts on shadow work, their approaches and the results generated differ significantly. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting these concepts by looking at how they are used in the course case studies to interpret facts on shadow work. I will be using the block method of essay writing as outlined in week 13.5.1 “structuring your essay” I will begin by looking at the concepts of Power, Agency and Risk. The concept of “Power” can be described as the capacity to act and can be understood in two related but distinct forms, as “power over” something exercised by one actor at the expense of another and as the “power to” or the capacity to act and take control over one’s own situation. Next “agency” is the capacity to act freely according to one’s own choices and desires. Whereas the concept of Risk or “Rational risk actors” are people who have the capacity to recognise and manage their own exposure to risk. (Mythen, G 2012, ... ... middle of paper ... ...use to help theorise the extent to which different kinds of workers have different capacities to exert power and agency over their own lives. Works Cited Mythen,G. (2012). The Uses of Social Science, Glasgow: The Open University Burnett,J and Whyte,D. (2011) The Wages of Fear: Risk, Safety and Undocumented Work, Leeds and Liverpool, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS) University of Leeds and the University of Liverpool Sanders,T. (2005) Sex Work: A Risky Business, Collompton,(Devon),Willan. Bungay, V., Halpin, M., Atchison, C. and Johnson, C. (2011) ‘Structure and agency: reflections from an exploratory study of Vancouver sex workers’, Culture, Health and Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, vol. 13 Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action: Lifeworld and System, Boston, MA, Beacon Press

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