\n\n<\/span>Social Organization of Work in different types of Society<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nSlave society, Feudal society, Industrial Capitalist Society<\/span><\/h3>\nSocial Organization of Work:<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- We can define work, whether paid or unpaid, as being the carrying out of tasks requiring the expenditure of mental and physical effort, which has some objective, the production of goods and services that cater to human needs. An occupation, or job, is work that is done in exchange for a regular wage or salary.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- In all cultures, work is the basis of the Economic System. The economic system consists of institutions that provide for the production and distribution of goods and services. .<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- One of the most distinctive characteristics of the economic system of modern societies is the existence of a highly complex division of labour:\u00a0work has been divided into an enormous number of different occupations in which people specialize.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- In traditional societies,<\/strong>\u00a0non-agricultural work entailed the mastery of a craft. Craft skills were learned through a lengthy period of apprenticeship, and the worker normally carried out all aspect of the production process from beginning to end.\u00a0For example<\/strong>\u00a0a metalworker making a plough would forge the iron, shape it and assemble the implement itself. With the rise of modern industrial production, most traditional crafts have disappeared altogether, replaced by skills that form part of larger scale of production processes.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Modern society has also witnessed a shift in the location of work. Before industrialization, most work took place at home and was completed collectively by all the members of the household.<\/strong>\u00a0Advances in industrial technology, such as machinery operating on electricity and coal, contributed to the separation of work and home.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Factories owned by entrepreneurs became the focal points of industrial development. Machinery and equipment were concentrated within them and the mass production of goods began to eclipse small-scale artisanship based in the home.<\/strong>\u00a0People seeking jobs in factories are trained to perform a specialized task and receive a wage for their work. Employee performance are overseen by managers, who concerned themselves with implementing techniques for enhancing worker productivity and discipline.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The contrast in the division of labour between traditional and modern societies is truly extraordinary.<\/strong>\u00a0Even in the largest traditional societies, there usually existed no more than twenty or thirty major craft trades, together, with such specialized roles as merchant, industrial system; there are literally thousands of distinct occupations.<\/span><\/li>\n
- In traditional communities, most of the population worked on farms and were economically self- sufficient.<\/strong>\u00a0They produced their own food, clothes and other necessities of life. One of the main features of modern societies, by contrast, is an enormous expansion of economic interdependence.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Early sociologist wrote extensively about the potential consequences of the division of labour- both for individual workers and for society as a whole. Karl Marx\u00a0<\/strong>was one of the first writers to speculate that the development of modern industry would reduce many people\u2019s work to dull, uninteresting tasks. According to Marx, the division of labour alienates human beings from their work. For Marx, alienation refers to feeling of indifference or hostility not only to work, but to the overall framework of industrial production within a capitalist setting. In traditional societies, he pointed out, work was often exhausting \u2013 peasant farmers sometimes had to toil from dawn to dusk. Yet peasants held real measure of control over their work, which required much knowledge and skill. Many industrial workers, by contrast, have little control over their jobs, only contributing a fraction to the creation of the overall product, and they have no influence over how or to whom it is eventually sold. Marxists would argue that for workers like Jockey, work appears as some thing alien, a task that must be carried out in order to earn an income but that is intrinsically unsatisfying.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Durkheim<\/strong>\u00a0had a more optimistic outlook about the division of labour, although, although he too acknowledged its potentially harmful effects. According to Durkheim, the specialization of roles would strengthen social solidarity within communities. Rather than living as isolated, self- sufficient units, people would be linked together through their mutual dependency. Solidarity would be enhanced through multidirectional relationships of production and consumption. Durkheim saw this arrangement as a highly functional one, although he was also aware that social solidarity could be disrupted if change occurred too rapidly. He referred to this resulting sense of normlessness as anomie.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The Social Signifence of Work:<\/span><\/h3>\nFor most of us, work occupies a larger part of our lives than any other single type of activity. In modern societies, having a job is important for maintaining self- esteem. Even where work conditions are relatively unpleasant, and the tasks dull, work tends to be a structuring element in people\u2019s psychological make- up and the cycle of their daily activities.\u00a0Several characteristics of work are relevant here.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Money or Wage:<\/strong>\u00a0A wage or Salary in return from work is the main resource many people depend on to meet their needs. Without an income, anxieties about coping with day-to-day life multiply.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Activity level:\u00a0<\/strong>Work often\u00a0provides a basis of the acquisition and exercise of skills and capacities. Even where work\u00a0<\/strong>is routine,\u00a0it offers a structured environment in which a person\u2019s energies may be absorbed. Without it, the opportunity\u00a0<\/strong>to exercise such skills and capacities may be reduced.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Variety:\u00a0<\/strong>Work provides\u00a0access to contexts that contrast with domestic surroundings.<\/strong>\u00a0In the working environment, even when the tasks are relatively dull, people may enjoy doing something different from home chores.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Temporal structure:<\/strong>\u00a0For people in regular employment,\u00a0the day is usually organized around the rhythm of work. While this may sometimes be oppressive, it provides a sense of direction in daily activities.<\/strong>\u00a0Those who are out of work frequently find boredom a major problem and develop a sense of apathy about time.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Social contacts:\u00a0<\/strong>The work environment often provides friendships and opportunities to participate in shared activities with others. Separated from the work setting, a person\u2019s circle of possible friends and acquaintances is likely to dwindle.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Personal identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Work is\u00a0usually valued for the sense of stable social identity it offers. For men in particular, self-esteem is often bound up with the economic contribution they make to the maintenance of the household.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Against the backdrop of this formidable list, it is not difficult to see why being without work may undermine individual\u2019s confidence in their social value.<\/span><\/p>\nEconomic system of simple societies(Pre-Industrial Society)<\/span><\/h3>\nHerbert spencer<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>has defined simple society as one which forms a simple working whole and of which the parts co-operate for certain public ends. Simple societies have low division of labour. The occupational differentiation being limited primarily to birth, sex and age. These societies have no specialized economic orgnization.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- The productive skills are simple and productivity is low<\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0therefore these societies cannot sustain large population size-Small population<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Most of the adult members are engaged in\u00a0Food gathering<\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0activities.<\/span><\/li>\n
- There is\u00a0Little or no surplus\u00a0<\/strong>so the social inequalities are not significant and economic interaction takes place within egalitarian frame-work.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The\u00a0Production system is simple but exchange of goods and services assume a complex form. The Forms of exchange are reciprocal and redistributive<\/strong>\u00a0type.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Some of the simple societies inhabiting regions having abundant food and other resources indulge in conspicuous consumption.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The members\u00a0Lack high degree of achievement motivation<\/strong><\/strong> as there is neither any intense preoccupation on generation and accumulation of economic surplus. Infact most economic activities emphasize on giving rather than storing or accumulation. Private ownership of means of production is non-existent.<\/span><\/li>\n
- There is\u00a0No clear separation between domestic economy and community economy\u00a0<\/strong>as they overlap to varying degrees.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The\u00a0Economic system is dominated by sacred consisting of magic religious ideas<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The Innovation is rare and change is slow.<\/strong>\u00a0The customary practices and norms regulate production and exchange of goods and services.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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