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The relationship between education and the world of work is being transformed. This change has coincided with the rise of a new type of labor organization and the search for greater flexibility at work to adjust to technological changes and to increased competition due to economic globalization. What new analyses can the sociology of education offer to understand these relationships better? Do they give rise to a restructuring of the research field? After a brief account of the pioneering works of the sociology and economics of education, the author provides an overview of the main research directions of the sociology of education on the relationships between the education and production systems. He then singles out one of the key ideas, centered on how these relationships develop, and offers suggestions for new further research directions that would widen the field of study.