Pasi Pyöriä

Understanding Work in the Age of Information Pasi Pyöriä

Understanding Work in the Age of Information tells a compelling story about Finland, one of the most advanced information societies in the world. In addition to discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the Finnish model of an information society, the author offers a long-awaited critical perspective on knowledge work, a concept that has attracted economists and management theorists since the 1960s. Although the discourse on knowledge work has resurfaced as a fashionable topic in recent years, several gaps still remain in the current literature. One of these is the lack of sociologically oriented analysis. The rise of knowledge work is not only an economic or managerial issue-it reflects a major social and cultural transformation comparable to, yet at the same time very different from, the Industrial Revolution. Written with precision and with clarity, Understanding Work in the Age of Information is an essential and original contribution to information society and organization studies and will be welcomed by readers interested in the social side of technological change.