Department of Sociology Colloquia Series ∗ Brandeis University
Unemployment Experiences:
Why Americans Blame Themselves and
Israelis Blame the System
Sociologist and Assistant Professor
OFER SHARONE
MIT Sloan Institute of Work and
Employment Relations
Thursday, March 20th
3:30-5:00 pm
Pearlman Lounge
Why do American w hite-collar job seekers interpret their
unemployment as reflecting flaw s in themselves (a view w hich can lead
to the “discouraged worker” phenomenon in w hich a person simply
stops job searching)? Why do Israelis instead tend to perceive flaws in
the hiring system (making them angry rather than depressed, and
more likely to become politicized)? Drawing on cross-national in-depth
interviews w ith unemployed job seekers and participant observations
at job-search support organizations, Professor Sharone challenges
broad cultural explanations and show s the role of labor-market
institutions in generating distinct job search “games” and unique
unemployment experiences. On a conceptual level, Sharone develops
a theory of the mechanisms that link objective social structures and
subjective experiences. He ends w ith a discussion of how one might
respond to one's ow n sociological findings if they seem to demand
action.
Sponsored by The Brandeis Department of Sociology * The Martin Weiner Distinguished Lecturers Fund
∗The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies ∗