Category: Work & Economy

The workplace is a microcosm of society. Analyse labour markets, the gig economy, automation, and the sociology of work in a rapidly changing world.

Young care worker supports an elderly resident, separated by a text-like barrier from an interview panel facing an empty chair.

The Hidden Curriculum of Soft Skills: Recognition, Capital, and Who Gets Left Out

Job adverts demand communication, leadership, and resilience. But who actually gets credit for them? Drawing on Bourdieu, Puwar, and Rivera, this article argues that soft skills are not recognised neutrally — they are filtered through class, race, and cultural capital. The result is a hiring system that mistakes social advantage for individual merit.

Continue reading
Quietly Neurodivergent

Quiet Neurodivergence, Spoons, and the Sociology of Invisible Struggle

This article develops quiet neurodivergence as a way of naming how some neurodivergent people appear to cope in education, work and civic life while absorbing hidden costs in masking, energy use and burnout. Drawing on neurodiversity, spoon theory, stigma and camouflaging research, and critical disability studies, it argues that quiet neurodivergence is produced by neuronormative institutions and patterned by class, race, gender and access to diagnosis.

Continue reading
Marx and the Gig Economy

Is Marx Still Relevant? Marxism, Class and the Gig Economy

Marx wrote about factories and nineteenth-century class conflict, not delivery apps or algorithmic ratings. So how far can his ideas take us today? This article introduces Marx’s core concepts and tests them against platform capitalism and the gig economy, showing what still works, what does not, and where later theorists extend his framework.

Continue reading
AI and Bernstein

Talking to the Machine: AI, Language Codes, and the Reproduction of Inequality

This article explores how generative AI systems reinforce class-based linguistic hierarchies by privileging elaborated codes aligned with middle-class norms, drawing on Bernstein’s theory of language and sociological critiques of educational inequality.

Continue reading
Neurodiversity Brain

The Rise of ‘Neurodiversity Chic’: Meaningful Progress or Just Branding?

Discover the complexities of neurodiversity’s rise in mainstream society, from increased awareness and policy shifts to concerns over performative advocacy and media stereotypes. This in-depth analysis explores the sociological impact, challenges, and future of neurodivergent inclusion.

Continue reading
Symbolic Meritocracy Ladder

Meritocracy or Myth? The Truth About the ‘Self-Made’ Narrative

Is the self-made success story a reality or a myth? This article explores the sociological debate around meritocracy, examining both the arguments for and against the self-made narrative, and the structural barriers that shape social mobility.

Continue reading