ABSTRACT
Almost everyone has an employment relationship of sorts, from the employed, traditional employee to the (so-called) independent contractor engaged in the ‘gig economy’. The extent to which the study of work and employment remains central and relevant to the functioning of a modern economy is well established (Ackers and Wilkinson, 2003; BUIRA, 2008; Kaufman, 2004; Meardi, 2014; Wilkinson, Wood and Deeg, 2014). However, of equal importance is the scope and variability of the broader environmental and contextual changes to the nature of paid work and employment relations as a field of study. This volume seeks to produce an overview of these key trends to understand the nature and governance of work relations in the modern economy. We outline examples of both change and continuity within the area of employment relations.
