Teleworking and Participatory Capital: Is Teleworking an Isolating or a Community-Friendly Form of Work?

Abstract

Does teleworking contribute to the likelihood of community participation or social isolation? The secondary analysis of two European Working Conditions Surveys (2000, 2001) investigated the correlates of telework. A representative sample of the economically active population included in total 32,760 employed or self-employed individuals in 15 European Union and 12 candidate countries; 4.7 per cent were teleworkers. Contrary to claims that teleworking can lead to a society of isolated individuals, this study reveals that teleworking seems to be a community-friendly form of work. The results indicate that teleworkers tend to report participation in both voluntary/charitable activities and in political/trade union activities more than non-teleworkers, after controlling for demographic and labour market variables. These results are discussed in terms of the debate between technological determinism and futurism/utopianism.