Work and trade unions are recurrent themes in the sociological literature focusing on processes designated as "productive restructuring". This article discusses both the way by which labor sociology has analyzed and interpreted these themes and the debate emerging from the issue of "flexibilization". In the case of work, I refer to the sociology that has concentrated on scrutinizing new company management strategies, the turnaround in the work market and employment relations, and the consequences of these changes for social organization in industrialized capitalist societies. In the case of trade unions, I deal with the studies concerned with the crisis of representation, the end of "trade unionism with solidarity", and the difficulties brought about by the proliferation of forms of work that have taken hold (part-time work, temporary work, informal work, home work, etc.), job cuts, unemployment, and exclusion.
sociology of work; flexibility; informal labor relations; trade unions