intro to work Flashcards
Define ‘labour processes’.
The circumstances in which people apply their labour at work to produce goals and services.
List 3 examples of how labour processes are applied to work.
- How they work.
- Who controls their work.
- What skills they have.
Define ‘divisions of labour’.
Work divided into a large number of specialised tasks or jobs carried out by workers.
Define ‘productivity’.
How much workers produce during the labour process.
Their output in terms of items made or processed in a given time period.
Define ‘means of production’.
The bourgeoisie own the means of production and the proletariat work the means of production.
This term places its focus upon economic resources, and is sometimes known as the means of physical production.
What are the 3 spheres of work?
HINT:
‘… economy’.
- Core economy.
- Formal economy.
- Shadow economy.
What is meant by the term ‘spheres of work’?
There are different fields/categories of work.
Define the ‘core economy’.
Unpaid work from family, friends and neighbours.
Give 3 examples of the types of work found in the core ecomony.
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Gardening
Define the ‘formal economy’.
Paid work, careers, jobs, professions.
Which 3 types of people does the formal economy involve?
- Employees
- Employers
- Self-employed
What are the two results of the formal economy in terms of money?
National Insurance
Tax
Who regulates the formal economy?
The state/government.
Define the ‘shadow economy’.
Paid work, hidden from the state.
What is meant by the term ‘grey economy?’
Legal work but undeclared for tax purposes.
Give an example of the grey economy.
Repair work that is done cash-in-hand.
What is meant by the term ‘black economy’?
Illegal work.
Give 3 examples of the black economy.
- Drug dealing
- Smuggling
- Selling stolen goods.
What are 3 issues with estimating the monetry value of of the black market?
- It is not regulated or monitored so can only be based on estimates.
- People lie - too embarrassed to tell the truth.
- They issue surveys and make huge assumptions based on them.
List 3 qualities of pre-industrialised Britain up until the 1800s.
- Family home was a unit of production.
- Most activities are carried out through all family members.
- Family members all co-operated together/worked to produce goods necessary for their own needs.
List 3 qualities of industrialised Britain.
- Home was separate from work.
- Work moved away from the home and into factories and offices.
- Labour was sold to employees in exchange for wages.
How did industrialisation create an individual soceity?
- Production of goods is mainly carried out using technology rather than using manual craft skills.
- Work is based in factories/officies not the home.
Which sector of work does pre-industrialisation come under?
Primary sector.
List 2 types of work in the pre-industrialisation era of the primary sector?
- Farming
- Agriculture
What does the family home serve as in the pre-industrialisation era?
A unit of production.
Which sector of work does industrialisation come under?
Secondary sector.
List 2 types of work in the industrialisation era of the secondary sector?
- Manufacturing
- Production in factories
How is work produced efficiently through industrialisation?
Using assembly lines.
Which sector of work does post-industrialisation come under?
Tertiary sector.
List 5 types of work in the post-industrialisation era?
- Office work
- Communications
- Banking
- Insurance
- Transportation
What are the 4 aspects of work that became a major concern for employers?
- Control
- Discipline
- Productivity
- Motivation
What is meant by the term ‘low trust systems of management control’?
The idea that workers cannot be trusted and need to be closely supervised and monitored.
Summarise the functionalist view of industrialisation.
- Industrialisation is a threat to social stability.
- Mechanical solidarity; traditional, low levels of specialism, shared norms and values.
- Organic solidarity; modern, specialised division of labour, interdependence.
- Feared that rapid social change would break down the shared norms and values/lead to ‘anomie’ (normalness).
Evaluate functionalists’ perspective of industrialsiation.
Give 2 strengths of their view.
- Durkheim was conscious that greater individualism associated with industrial society could threaten social solidarity; saw important role for occupational associations, legal contracts and state action to counterbalance this divisive force.
- Anomie; backed by Merton to suggest why deviant behaviour might occur.
Evaluate functionalists’ perspective of industrialisation.
List 2 limitations of their view.
- Not everyone would turn to deviant behaviour if they are not successful.
- Other factors impacting social solidarity e.g CAGED.
Summarise the marxist view of industrialisation.
- ‘Capitalist industrialisation’ is forming; emergence of the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie of production/capital.
- The proletariat were exploited; bourgeoisie owned ‘surplus value’ of the proletariat labour; the difference between wages paid and money made on the labour of the proletariat.
- Alienation; major issue; estrangement from self, other workers and the work.
Evaluate marxists’ perspective of industrialisation.
Give a strength of their view.
Acknowlegded progression; concerned that it was capitalist industrialisation occuring.
Evaluate marxists’ perspective of industrialisation.
Give a limitation of their view.
Marxists insist that exploitation is build into capitalism.
Critics disagree; to label a relationship exploitive is not a fact but a judgement.
Summarise the interactionist view of industrialisation.
- It created a capitalist society.
- Concerned with the idea of rationalisation (replacement of traditions, calculated ones) e.g implementation of bureaucracies in government bringing rule, control + order.
- Feared the loss of personal freedom/autonomy in a society that was becoming more rational, impersonal and bureaucratic.
