The Employee - 9780812245240

The EmployeeA Political History\nAuthor(s): Jean-Christian Vinel\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, United States\nImprint: University of Pennsylvania Press\nISBN-13: 9780812245240, 978-0812245240\nSynopsis\nA political, legal, intellectual, and social history of employment in America\n In the present age of temp work, telecommuting, and outsourcing, millions of workers in the United States find themselves excluded from the category of \""employee\""-a crucial distinction that would otherwise permit unionization and collective bargaining. Tracing the history of the term since its entry into the public lexicon in the nineteenth century, Jean-Christian Vinel demonstrates that the legal definition of \""employee\"" has always been politically contested and deeply affected by competing claims on the part of business and labor. Unique in the Western world, American labor law is premised on the notion that \""no man can serve two masters\""-workers owe loyalty to the.