The Division of Labour, HS205 Lecture 2

August 14, 2007 Lecture 2

Adam Smith

Greatest improvement in productivity
Every worker become much more skilful and dexterity in particular task
Time saving from not having to switch one task to another
Easier to mechanize single, simple task

Division of labour in modern factory
Is more complex, diversity ( each component made in different factory)

Beyond factories
Division of labour also in wholesales retails
Network development

Specialization

Division of labour gives rise to very specialized occupation
Occupation becomes the basis of how society organized, compare to pre-modern days, family, clan and kinships become source of identities. Occupation becomes dominant category of how we see the world.

Contemporary society

Dominant form of social interacting is based on division of labour
Public vs. private spheres
- Public sphere defined by division of labour
- Private sphere: interact with family and friends; tends not to be defined by division of labour
- More and more, public sphere starts to encroach private sphere

Up to now

Emerge of division of labour during industrialization
Spread to society at large, change structure of social basis and boundary

Emile Durkheim (1800-
expected increasing division of labour in societies
Tendency to an “over-development” (insignificant of small component, little part one plays) of division of labour

Segmental (traditional society) to modern society

Transition from segmental society to modern society
- Mechanical solidarity to organized solidarity
- Bonded by similarity to interdependent
- Repetition of similar group to system of different organization
- Clan based to each unit has special function
- Family characteristic to individual not own by birth but by competition
- Political characteristic


Development of division of labour leads to :

Organizational structure changes
- organized structure emerged ; segmental structure disappears
- division of labour develops more a certain population density and research
- Once division of labour appear to contribute to regression of segmental structure.

Condensation society (alongside with industrialization)
- Concentration population
- Formation of town and cities: importance of social interests
- Improvement in communication and transportation

Organization and Modernization
Different organization generated:
o Degree of commericalization of social life
o Political incorporating within authoritative and hierarchical form

What happens when over development?
- each part becomes more insignificant
- each component starts to have overlapping interests, e.g., play, movies, concerts are fighting for the same audience
- many social activities available
- potential for social disorganization, people become dispensable, marginal to society, not tied to society

Reading 2: Robert Michaels “Organisation and Oligarch”

Cause of Leadership

Need of organization:
o Political necessary
o Mechanically and technically impossible for direct government by mass
o Need for delegation, which represent the mass and carry out its will

Originally the chief is merely the servant of the mass. The organisation is based upon the absolute equality of its entire member, the delegates needs have:
o Individual ability
o Oratorical gift
o Considerable objective knowledge

Heinrich Herkner foresees that …all the labour organizations will be forced to abandon proletarian exclusiveness, and in the choices of their officials to give the preference to persons of an education that is superior alike in economic, legal, technical and commercial aspects. These schools create “elite” of the working class into leadership.

Organization- tendency of oligarchy
Aristocratic exists in all organizations

The principle of division of labour coming more and more into operation, executive authority undergoes division and sub-division.
It is indisputable that oligarchic and bureaucratic tendency of party organization is a matter of technical and practical necessity. It is a product of the very principle of organization.

Leader, professional leaders- Autocratic tendency of leaders

Mass feel the need for leadership, majority forgo their right to public affairs.
With the appearance of professional leadership, the party mechanism, through paid, honorary post as its disposal, offers career to the workers, which is constant attractive force, transform a number of proletarian into bourgeois. This change of condition at once creates the need of acquisition at expense of mass.

While the need of daily life and their occupations render it impossible for the mass to attain to a profound knowledge of social mechanism, and above all the working of the political machine. The leader of working class origin is enabled to make himself intimately familiar with all the technical details of public life, and thus to increase his superiority over the rank and file.

Gulf between the leaders and the mass becomes so wide, until the moment arrives in which the leaders lose all true sense of solidarity with the class from which they have sprung, and there ensures a new-class division between ex-proletarian captions and proletarian common soldiers.

Therefore, when workers choose their leaders, they create new masters with their own hands, whose principal means of dominion is found in their better instructed minds.
Division of labour creates specialism, however, implies authority. The history of production cooperation shows that there is need to submit to the will of one of a few persons, thus lose the character of cooperative.

Does really democracy exist?