Work in Non-Industrial Societies

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Work in Non-Industrial Societies

• Volti Chapter 8

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• Majority of peoples lives is spent working
• Technology has greatly changed the way we work
• It has lightened our load

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Working with the Earliest Tools

• Earliest man (Homo habilis) used simple tools
• Early tools have crude appearance but are not
  primitive in use
• Early tools called primitive because they were
  used by one person for a few tasks
• Early societies --gt division of labor very
  limited
• Workers in "Primitive" societies did not lack
  technical ability
• Although work process is simple, worker may be
  highly dexterous and ingenious
• "Stone Age" technology very important
  breakthrough --gt the idea of making stone
  chipping tool is hardly obvious

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Work and Leisure in Technologically Primitive
Societies

• Primitive people - life of work and toil may not
  be the whole picture
• !Kung Bushmen (Present day-Kalahari Desert- S.
  Africa) give insight into primitive man
• !Kung live in harsh, difficult environment
• But !Kung not etching out a meager existence, as
  one would suspect
• Adults work 12-19 hours each week to maintain
  their lifestyle
• Remainder time --gt hanging out with friends and
  family
• One commentator "The !Kung are the original
  affluent society"
• Affluence not equal to Abundance --gt !Kung have
  very little material stuff
• !Kung illustrate the principle
• "The amount of work per capita increases with
  the evolution of culture, and the amount of
  leisure per capita decreases"

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Work and Leisure in Technologically Primitive
Societies

• "A technologically dynamic society generates
  labor-saving devices, but at the same time it
  produces a steady stream of new goods that are
  eagerly sought after....As workers in a a
  technologically advanced society, we often find
  ourselves on a treadmill, working long and hard
  to obtain the material goods that we scarcely
  have time to enjoy"

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Work and the Development of Agriculture

• Hunting and gathering dominant mode of existence
  throughout human history
• Why did humans take up farming
• Some say changes in climate
• Others argue - climate did not radically change
  when farming emerged
• Whatever the cause - ability of people to produce
  food grew rapidly
• Development of agriculture allowed for greater
  population densities
• Workload of individual increase

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Farming Techniques and Patterns of Work

• Connection between technology, population
  expansion, and increased work best demonstrated
  through farming technology
• Foraging - Hunting and Gathering societies
• Slash and Burn- (earliest farming technology) cut
  down vegetation and burn it on the spot
• Clears land puts nutrients in the soil
• After harvest land is abandoned up to 20 years
  --gt land replenishes itself
• More destructive than foraging but less
  destructive than some other practices
• This practice supports more people than foraging
  150 people/sq. mi.
• Annual labor requirement - 500-1000 hours - 9-19
  hrs/wk equal to !Kung
• Cannot support large populations
• Sedentary farming - (Irrigation) supports larger
  populations - more destructive
• Settled farming - people can remain in one place
  - communities emerge
• Paradox - as land becomes more productive, people
  have to work harder
• 2X the labor is required for this method

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The Ironies of Progress

• Is an "advanced" society truly advanced?
• "Advance" needs to be considered within a number
  of qualifications
• Time - does technology save time or is it time
  consuming?
• Skill - technology may not mean the individual
  is more skilled
• Foragers have just as much "skill" as modern man
• One thing is certain - the development of
  agricultural technology increased the human
  workload

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Artisans and Craft Work

• Settled Farming - communities emerge - many of
  the institutions of today are a result of this
  shift in farming
• Religious institutions
• Political institutions
• Division of Labor

10
Market Emerges

• When goods are no longer made for one another but
  for a market - work is no longer embedded in
  social relationships
• "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher,
  the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our
  dinner, but form their regard to their own
  interest. We address ourselves, not to their
  humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk
  to them of our necessities, but of their own
  advantages (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations)
• Market relationships are based on the exchange of
  goods and services
• This relationship ends when the transaction is
  complete
• This principle has far reaching implications for
  the way in which work is approached
• "When work is firmly rooted in social
  relationships, the way the work is organized will
  not be governed solely by the technical
  requirements for the job."

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Guild Organization and Technological Change

• Guilds - groupings of people engaged in the same
  kind of occupation restricts the practice of a
  particular craft to members of the guild
• New members often recruited within guild families
• Guild regulates entrance of new members and,
  consequently, new blood into the industry because
  "outsiders" are restricted, innovation they may
  have for industry is never realized --gt
  technological change is stifled

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Slavery and the Inhibition of Technological
Development

• When slaves are readily available, there are few
  incentives to invent and use labor-saving
  technology
• Rome/Greece --gt few technological advances - many
  slaves
• Middle Ages --gt many technological advances - few
  slaves (Church forbade slavery)

13
The Measurement of Time and Changed Working
Patterns

• Relationship between work and time
• amount of time that is expended on work
• the way that it is scheduled
• In traditional societies the distinction between
  work and leisure unclear
• work integrated with various religious and social
  activities
• certain times of year required much work
  (harvesting) other times required little
• no fixed schedules
• In modern society work/leisure distinction is
  much sharper
• Rise of Protestantism (Calvinism) gave a new
  centrality to work

14
The Clock

• Major influence by this invention
• Time telling devices always a part of human
  existence (Sun Dial, etc.)but none as "accurate"
  as the clock
• Ancient world had little need for clock - society
  not regimented
• The rise of the Medieval monastery brought about
  the need for precise time
• telling
• Monasteries had hundreds of monks and workers to
  be organized
• Prayer time, Masses, and other religious
  observances required scheduling
• Rule of St. Benedict - day/night divided into 12
  hr. intervals - prayers said every 3rd hr.
• First Clock - 13th century
• Clock - embodies all the key characteristics of a
  machine
• external source of energy required - no human or
  animal power needed
• operation automatic - required little human
  intervention
• Output - standard - in hours, minutes, seconds
• Clock made time into a substance, something to be
  saved or wasted
• Clock is the symbol for modern age
• Clock turned work into routinized procedures
  governed by artificial time schedules