Beyond employment

How do individuals and families adapt economic conditions and how do their patterns of behaviour contribute to the structure the economy? How far is the informal economy bound up with the 'formal' and are these distinctions really useful? What does the future hold for work, lifestyles and social patterns?

These are topical questions for governments, researchers and con cerned individuals both developing and developed countries. This significant contribution to the debate examines the complex relation ships between people, families and households and the wider economy. Using empirical data from settings around the world and informed by the latest theoretical work, the contributors discuss the social relations of production (particularly the role women), the significance of patterns and kinds of consumption, and the repro duction of the household. The issues raised are of considerable practical and theoretical importance; Beyond Employment will be central interest to sociologists as well as students of development and of economic and social policy.