Check syllabus for assigned reading related to the evolution of work before proceeding.

Changes in Work

Why does Monday have such a bad reputation? Why are there songs that belt out "Everybody's working for the weekend," or that scream "I don't want to work ..."? If we didn't know better, we'd think work was a bad thing, right? Was it always that way? Did people in ancient societies write songs about disliking their work? I can't say for certain, but probably not.

From what you read, you should be getting a picture of how work has evolved over time. In hunting and gathering societies, there was not a separate designation of life-activity called "work." People just did what they did to exist from day to day. What we think of today as "leisure" was interspersed with activities that ensured one's survival, like finding food or shelter.

Over time, the notion of "work" as something distinct evolved. While the text goes into the details for each era (i.e., hunting and gathering societies, agricultural societies, imperial societies, feudal society, industrial revolution, monopoly capitalism, postindustrial society), I'd like you to think broadly in terms of these changes over time. How might we characterize them? What are the important analytical points in understanding this evolution?

First, we could look at the notion of control and who has control over the work. Certainly, in hunting and gathering societies, individuals had control over their "work." The putting out system demonstrates a different kind of control, which was concentrated in the hands of merchants. The enclosure acts forced peasants off the land and into factories for fear of punishment for vagabondage. Industrialization brought even tighter control with management concentrating workers under one roof and subjecting them to strict time discipline. The trajectory of control over time certainly is not in favor of workers. Societies changed from individual control over life activity to organizational control over a substantial portion of one's life activity.

Second, we could look at how income is derived. Prior to having a money economy, people did not have incomes. They produced what they needed and as surplus developed, it could be sold or exchanged for the work of artisans. Serfs had to "pay" their feudal landlords a significant portion of what they produced. Later, merchants carried the costs of the raw materials while craftsmen were paid a piece rate (i.e., a rate per item produced). The factory system introduced a system of wages by which workers were paid for their time and expected to perform the tasks the managers set out for them. Looking back, we see a shift from producing things for oneself or that one could sell for income to producing things for another — for wages.

The Industrial Revolution brought sweeping social changes with it. Individuals' ways of living were changing. Rather than working when needed or choosing individual effort, workers sold their time, their labor, to factory owners for a set amount of money. They then entered into a kind of contract in which they were to do what was asked by the factory owner until their workday was finished. Working for wages might not seem like such a big deal now; however, at the time it was a dramatic change in the way of life. So drastic was the change that some people (Karl Marx was the most notable among them) referred to this system as one of "wage slavery." Slavery?! The factory system was so abhorrent that the only comparison to be made was to slavery. That should tell you something about the magnitude of the changes we are talking about.

Another significant change from the industrial revolution is the distinct separation of people's lives into working and non-working or leisure time. "Separate spheres" evolved — that is, the idea that economic activity took place in one sphere while leisure took place in another. These spheres were seen as not only separate, but distinct. Thus, "work" came to mean "employment." What is the difference between work and employment? We could say that work is activity that creates goods and/or services or provides for the distribution of those goods or services. Work can be done for pay, support, or coercion. This definition of work is purposely broad enough to include housework, volunteer work, slavery, and other non-waged work. Housework, for example, is work (that's why it's called houseWORK and not housePLAY) that is done in the home by someone for others (family) in turn for economic support of other household members. Employment, on the other hand, is work done for wages (wages can be per hour or by salary)

Over time, the separate spheres ideology took hold and only employment, done outside the home, was considered "work." Those who were not employed, but may have been working very hard, were considered economically idle and thus, not working. The Industrial Revolution and the separate spheres ideology helped devalue work done in the home. We know that this work was largely done by women for their families. Sadly, that is why today we may still hear someone say, "I'm just a housewife," when asked what she does for a living.

Finally, the third analytical dimension is the division of labor. Over time, societies have shifted from virtually no division of labor (i.e., everyone does most of the tasks necessary for their own survival) to a highly complex division of labor like we have today. In the next chapter of your text, you will come across the standard occupational classification, which lists over 400 broad occupations! Within occupations, which are groupings of jobs, are many, many related jobs. The complexity of our occupational system today is a far cry from what people experienced in hunting and gathering societies.