Book Reviewed: The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity, by Allison J. Pugh

Book Reviewed: The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity, by Allison J. Pugh

Sociology of the divided mind: Tackling the mind-body disorders of the 21 century

The 21 century is becoming more like a tumbleweed society, where job insecurity is large and the economic disparities are wide. Will this eventually become 99.9 percent to 0.1 percent class system? What would be the future of let “free market” take care of itself so that the prosperity offered thus far will continue to get better, as many politicians like us to believe every four years when they need our votes. In this book, University of Virginia Professor Allison Pugh focuses on job insecurities and forging family connections. The insecurity resulting from the end of the traditional job and the traditional family (historically this was referred to married life between a man and woman) is already discussed by numerous sociologists, philosophers and management/business specialists. The premise is that we are moving away from an "insurance" state, where our basic security was protected by jobs and "till death do we part" marriages, with kids and moral support from parents/grandparents. There is no such thing as traditional marriage now, and the jobs could be anywhere in this global economy.

Professor Pugh sees a connection between the obligation of an individual to his/her job and the employer, and to his/her family. With greater sense of job insecurity, the individual turn to fulfilling family obligations and likes to develop intimate relationship to gain a sense of security. If family situation doesn’t pan out to be secure, then people construct stronger walls between themselves and the jobs and the family: The fabric of our connected lives weakens.

It is rather interesting to compare this work with the work of University of South Carolina Professor Jerald Wallulis who has studied this problem from a philosophical point, and concludes that the American dream of a well-paid job and greater prosperity for one's children is very remote and unrealistic romantic notion. Equally unrealistic is the expectation of sharing the American dream with the same partner for the rest of one’s life.

In this tumbleweed society, working and caring in an age of job insecurity is not a simple problem to tackle. We live in a global market where the goods and services are bought and sold across the borders. The global economy, technological advances and the multiculturalism is changing the way of life faster than we can imagine. Professor Pugh is seeing the problem through a very narrow window where she doesn’t even discuss how the tumbleweed society made of many cultures and age groups are affected by the new insecurities. There are many studies that suggest that age plays out differently on personal and professional insecurities. Younger generation handles things differently than older generations, and in the world of alcohol and controlled substances, moods and perceptions change, and priorities take whole new meanings.