Chapter 1 Historical Perspectives on Work PDF

Chapter 1 Historical Perspectives on Work Prepared by Karen D. Hughes, Harvey J. Krahn, and Harleen Padda, University of Alberta...

Chapter 1 Historical Perspectives on Work Prepared by Karen D. Hughes, Harvey J. Krahn, and Harleen Padda, University of Alberta 1 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Outline 1. What Is “Work”? 2. Origins of Industrial Capitalism 3. Canada’s Industrialization 4. Theoretical Perspectives on Work 2 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  1. What Is “Work”? 3 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  What Is "Work"? “… activity that provides a socially valued product or service” (p. xxv of text)  Includes  paid and unpaid work (caring, volunteering)  “formal” and “informal” economy Shaped by industrialization and capitalism  Constantly changing  Schumpeter—“creative destruction” 4 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Work—Examples of Change Late 1800s Canada?  Earlyindustrializing Montreal (pp. 1–2 of text)  Farming, large families, high immigration, household economies and start of "paid work" Present-day Canada?  Paid employment the norm, often in large, bureaucratic organizations  Service jobs outnumber farming, manufacturing  Two-thirds of households are "dual-earner" 5  University education increasingly common Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Work—Key Sociological Debates Prosperity or inequality  How does work shape the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige in our society? Conflict or cooperation  Arework relationships inherently conflictual?  Where and why does cooperation occur? Individual agency versus social structure  How do economies and work organizations shape our work behaviour and vice versa? 6 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Work in European Feudal Society Subsistence agriculture  Labour-intensive,with basic technology  Hard physical labour High social inequality  Small aristocracy and merchant class in cities  Rural landowning class and peasantry Poor living conditions for many Little economic or social change Individual rights of little account 7 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  2. Origins of Industrial Capitalism 8 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Rise of Mercantile Capitalism (1500s)  Global trading system  Exchange of spices, furs, slaves  Spurred by new technologies, transportation  Colonial empires  England, France, Spain, Holland, Portugal  Emergence of wealthy merchant class  Accumulation of financial capital is key to later stages of capitalist development 9 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Industrial Revolution (Mid- to Late 1700s) Eraof rapid social and economic change Spurred by  large pools of capital from merchants/banks  new industrial and social technologies (factories) Changes:  Rapid urbanization  Deskilling of work  Impoverished urban working class  Changing gender division of labour and the 10 "family wage" Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Defining Industrialization & Capitalism Industrialization Capitalism  New technologies and Distinct “social energy sources (e.g., steam, system of production” spinning jenny) (as distinct from  Factories and "putting out" feudalism and systems socialism)  Higher productivity (and "Labour market" is later a higher standard of created where living)  wage-labourers create  Paralleled by value  Urbanization  owners control who  Managerial control works and how work  Bureaucracy is done 11 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Polanyi (1944) "The Great Transformation” Industrial capitalism transforms Western societies.  Wage labour as dominant form of work  New forms of large-scale, centralized production  Slow and steady decline in agriculture  Rapid urban growth  Shifts in norms and values—individual rights, "clock time"  Rise of scientific management  Video clip: Modern Times (1936) 12 Classification: Protected A  Video Clip: Modern Times (1936) This 1936 silent film, starring Charlie Chaplin, highlights many changing features of work and its effects on workers. What are some of the workplace practices that catch his/your attention? 13 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  3. Canada’s Industrialization 14 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Canada’s Industrialization Late industrializer (mid-1800s) "Staples economy"  Resource-rich colony (e.g., fur, timber, fisheries) Heavilyrural population High immigration Pre-market, household economy  Men—farming, fishing, lumbering, fur trade  Women—mothering, cleaning, canning, 15 gathering eggs, making cheese, sewing Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Canada’s Industrialization (Late 1800s) At Confederation, 50 percent of workers in agriculture By 1900, Canada ranked seventh among manufacturing nations.  Growth fuelled by U.S. firms building in Canada  First factories in Maritimes  Ontario, Quebec—textile, manufacturing hubs  Ideal of male breadwinner and "separate 16 spheres"  BUT average industrial wage did not support a Classification: Protected family until 1920s Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. A  Canada’s Industrialization (1900–30s) Rapid industrial expansion Rise of scientific management High labour unrest  1900–14: 400 strikes/lockouts in Ontario High levels of immigration  Immigrants worked on railway construction, mines Poorwork conditions, little labour protection Corporate capitalism, bureaucracy, larger organizations  Emergence of white-collar work 17 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Industrialization & Colonization Processes of colonialization intersected with rise of industrial capitalism Numbered treaties (1871–1921)  Elimination of traditional landholding practices and culture Federal Indian Act of 1867  “Indian status” Racism and prejudice  Dangerous,menial jobs  Government policies 18 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  4. Theoretical Perspectives on Work 19 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Adam Smith (1723–90) The Wealth of Nations (1776) Capitalism = wealth and societal prosperity Competition: spurs innovation and growth Division of labour: central to greater productivity and wealth (e.g., pins) Invisible hand of market: individual self- interest creates social benefits 20  BUT aware that capitalism could exploit Copyright © workers 2021 Nelson andLtd. Education suggested higher wages to improve productivity of workers Classification: Protected A  Karl Marx (1818–83) "Conflict perspective" Mode of production: means of production and social relations of production Class structure based on ownership: bourgeoisie, proletariat, petite bourgeoisie Division of labour: surplus value, exploitation, loss of worker control, and alienation 21 Class conflict: inevitable result of capitalism Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) "Consensus view" Division of labour: social solidarity and interdependence among society members Excessive division of labour: anomie (social isolation, marginality) Cooperation among employers, unions, and workers is needed to get past the “growing pains” of industrial capitalism 22 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Max Weber (1864–1920) "Conflictview," but different emphasis Rationalization and bureaucracy as key concern  Wide-ranging jobs replaced with narrow set of tasks  Informal work relations replaced with formal, impersonal relations in large organizations  Education, qualifications become central to success “Iron cage” of bureaucracy 23 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A  Summary of Key Ideas & Concepts  "Work" Karl Marx  Industrialization  Mode of production  Capitalism  Class conflict  Feudalism  Mercantile Adam Smith capitalism  Industrial Capitalism  Division of labour  Industrial Revolution Émile Durkheim  "Great Transformation”  Social cohesion  Canada as "late  Anomie industrializer"  Staples economy Max Weber  Craftwork  Bureaucracy 24 Copyright © 2021 Nelson Education Ltd. Classification: Protected A