Abstract
Does teleworking contribute to the likelihood of community participation or social isolation? The secondary analysis of two European Working Conditions Surveys (2000, 2001) investigated the correlates of telework. A representative sample of the economically active population included in total 32,760 employed or self-employed individuals in 15 European Union and 12 candidate countries; 4.7 per cent were teleworkers. Contrary to claims that teleworking can lead to a society of isolated individuals, this study reveals that teleworking seems to be a community-friendly form of work. The results indicate that teleworkers tend to report participation in both voluntary/charitable activities and in political/trade union activities more than non-teleworkers, after controlling for demographic and labour market variables. These results are discussed in terms of the debate between technological determinism and futurism/utopianism.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 345-361 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | European Sociological Review |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2004 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Field of Science*
- 5.4 Sociology
- 5.2 Economy and Business
Publication Type*
- 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database
