SOME SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF OCCUPATIONAL COMMUNITIES.

This article is concerned with exploring and delineating a particular type of work/non-work relationship, a type of relationship which, though it has been well illustrated by many studies, has never been thoroughly analysed and discussed: the occupational community. An occupational community represents a particular relationship between men's work and the rest of their lives, a type of relationship which is probably increasingly rare in modern societies. Members of occupational communities are affected by their work in such a way that their non-work lives are permeated by their work relationships, interests and values. In this article an attempt is made, based on a review of many published studies of occupational communities, to list the components and determinants of occupational communities and to suggest a classification of types. It is of considerable interest and importance to investigate those workers who belong to occupational communities and who, by allowing a fusion of their work and non-work lives, present such a marked contrast with workers who separate the two spheres of life.