Abstract
Literacy Work in the Reign of Human Capital is a challenging book examining new power relations between literacy workers, labour and human capital in organisations. His view is that a cultural shift away from investing in human capital to what he terms just-in-time organisational operations has significantly devalued it (p. 18). New literacies, such as the Internet, have caused this change. This in turn changes the bargaining relationships between worker and organisation that the worker must negotiate when offering labour to obtain reward. The book would interest sociologists and others wanting to read how new literacies, such as the Internet, have changed the cultural aspects, such as power relations, between those who employ and those who offer their labour.
The book has an introduction and four themed chapters which demonstrate how literacies – reading, writing and new technologies – while still important, are no longer valued as a long-term resource. He begins with the claim that literacy, as embedded in a person as a useful skill to produce artefacts for the business, is no longer a guarantee of appropriate employment and reward for effort. Then he lays out how and why this is happening, drawing on many sociological and economic scholars, particularly Gary Becker (1964) and Yochai Benkler (2006). Literacy produces cultural artefacts that organisations need, but Watkins claims just-in-time organisational practices erode the individual value of human capital that determines a worker’s economic position in society.
In Chapter Two, Watkins discusses the shifting of a power base where human capital literacy skills levels do not determine monetary reward. Technologies have had much to do with this as Internet applications have eliminated some literacy workers’ practices, such as online payments replacing accounts staff. Chapters Three and Four consolidate Watkins’s views about the loss of power relations for many reasons with abundant examples of human capital value being eroded. His focus is on organisational practice in the United States with just-in-time economics affecting literacy workers’ status as valuable human capital resources in organisations.
Human capital has been valuable for the economic survival of organisations and society. Literacies, such as reading and writing, are a vital part of producing labour. Digital literacies cause labour to move to become something akin to inventory to be drawn on in a just-in-time manner when needed rather than just traditionally maintained by organisations to perpetuate full employment. He claims new literacies causes significant cultural change in the practices of literacy workers faced with competition for scarce employment positions.
Watkins identifies reasons using numerous examples of how human capital is no longer held in high esteem by organisations. Yet he also writes how despite literacy workers going to the effort of learning new literacies, employers still cannot find skilled staff to fill literacy-based employment (p. 156). This dichotomy is troubling because ideologically human capital is said to be highly valued by organisations and constantly reinvested in. Watkins argues this is not happening, resulting in the literacy worker having to constantly renegotiate their position in the field of work.
His other concern is organisational casual work and outsourcing practices in the United States. Watkins strongly argues organisations are maximising profit by eliminating the drag on productivity caused by labour costs by using casual workforces (p. 156). This is important because not only does it render literacy workers powerless, but it moves away from the corporate rhetoric of human capital being valuable to an organisation as Becker (1964) viewed it to be. The claim is that burden of new literacy teaching to maximise obtaining employment now must be borne by educational institutions. Watkins is not anti this practice (p. 160), but argues training should be equally borne by organisations and educational institutions.
The book’s strength is its message of understanding, from a sociological viewpoint rather than traditional economic or human resource viewpoints, how inequality is occurring in organisations. Watkins writes well but the book requires the reader to have background knowledge in the economics of labour. Although Watkins crams much information into the book, it is argued well that human capital is no longer the bargaining tool workers can use to obtain the economic and social resources they need to live in a capitalist society.
The book is recommended for cultural sociologists and readers interested in an articulate, but complex, argument about contemporary organisational practices and how power relations have been changed by new organisational practices and demand for workers skilled in new literacies.