The author contends that the level and types of unemployment that occur in contemporary advanced capitalist societies are the result of the intended and unintended consequences of human actions. Arguing that unemployment is a predictable consequence of the ways in which work is organized within and between societies, he attacks the view that unemployment is either the result of impersonal, uncontrollable market forces or of the personal characteristics of these individuals or groups. Neither of these positions provides an adequate basis for an understanding of the problem. Using theories...