Home and Work

This text explores the intricacies and implications of how people draw the line between home and work. Arguing that relationships between the two realms range from those that are highly "integrating" to those that are highly "segmenting," it examines the ways people sculpt the boundaries between home and work. With sensitivity to the symbolic value of objects and actions, the author explores the meaning of clothing, wallets, lunches and vacations, and the places and ways in which we engage our family, friends, and co-workers. Commuting habits are also revealing, showing how the transition between home and work "selves" is made though ritualized behaviour like greetings and farewells, the consumption of food, dress, choices of routes to and from work, and listening, working, and sleeping habits during these journeys.