Industrial Sociology: An Introduction by Maria Hirszowicz; Peter Cook Review by: Curt Tausky Contemporary Sociology, Vol.

12, No. 4 (Jul., 1983), p. 439 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2067509 . Accessed: 28/02/2013 22:28
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BOOK REVIEWS and should serve as a major counterpoint to more conventional explanations. Wardwell, who is known for his study of chiropractic as a marginal profession, and Albrecht and Levy provide articles describing the efforts of chiropractors and osteopaths respectively to secure a position of equality and legitimacy in the field of medicine. Their papers invite comparisons in terms of the strategies employed and results achieved. For example, osteopathy has modified much of its original curriculum and theory to conform to the demands of traditional medicine and achieved acceptance; chiropractic has remained committed to its principles and unrecognized as a legitimate health profession. Riska and Buffenbarger suggest that even within traditional medicine, emerging specialties (e.g., family medicine) yield much of their original distinctiveness in gaining American Medical Association approval. In addition, they point out that third parties, including health insurance providers and government health service organizations, have increasingly affected physician autonomy and control. Shatin's paper shows how physicians who participate in government-sponsored kidney dialysis units exclude other unaffiliated physicians who might have legitimate medical and professional reasons for involvement. In his introduction, Roth notes that these internecine struggles in the health service occupations often leave the patient as the victim. With profit-making businesses gaining increased control over health care institutions, even greater changes that may have untoward consequences for health care professionals as well as patients are under way. Research in the Sociology of Health Care focuses on important areas of conflict and change in the health service occupations, and has the unique capacity to serve both scholars and students in the sociology of work and occupations, and in medical sociology.

439

Organizations

Industrial Sociology:
York: St. Martin's

An Introduction,
Press,

by

MARIA HIRSZOWICZ and PETER COOK. New

1982. 303 pp.

$27.50 cloth.
CURT TAUSKY

Univ'ersitv of Massachusetts

Hirszowicz is a lecturer in sociology at an English university; I mention this because her location bears on Industrial Sociology' s suitability for American undergraduates. In the final paragraph I address this concern. The book is intended to provide "the background of theory and research findings with which students need to be familiar in order to undertake more advanced courses" (p. viii), and accordingly develops the following topics: industrialization and the nature of industrial society; the consequences of technology for division of labor and workers; small groups in industry; work motivation; supervisors and their styles; the rise of large corporations and professional managers; the working class; trade unions; industrial conflict; industrial democracy. There is also an annotated bibliography. Hirszowicz's text is well balanced in three For most topics, contrasting respects. theoretical positions are presented. Second, and more unique, is the book's attention to "command economies" in which economic affairs are directed by government; thus, on significant issues, East and West are compared. Finally, many of the topics are developed in historical perspective. Let me now note some reservations. First, about a third of the content of this book is customarily found in texts on formal organizations, specifically, the chapters on small groups, work motivation, and supervisory styles. Second, the author uses the term "industrial sociology" very strictly. What she has in mind is precisely manufacturing industry, which leads to, for example, a look at work content and mobility in manufacturing but not in the service industries. Third, the tabular data are not as recent as one might want. And, last, a neutral observation: There is more emphasis on theory than on data, which will appeal to some teachers but not others. This is a theoretically sophisticated book, although quite readable by university students. However, this caution should be considered: "The book was written with special reference to Great Britain and the reader is particularly referred to the English authors whose contributions to industrial sociology seemed to me most impressive" (p. viii). U.S. writers and data appear in the text but essentially serve as background. This could make the book either more interesting or more confusing to students than a U.S.-oriented introduction.

Contemporary Sociology, July 1983, Volume 12, Number 4

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