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On the Definition of Work
Presentation to
Centre for Work and Life
Chris Provis
School of Management, UniSA
27 Feb 2009
‘Work’: preliminary
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frequent connotations: unpleasant, paid
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clearly not necessary conditions
– last weekend I was working in the garden
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‘work’ because it was productive?
– of what?
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Social Context of ‘Work’
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often institutionalised
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Can institutional participants give definition?
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Ferguson: enough that ‘those doing the
activity should have the decisive say as to
whether their activity counts as work’
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Hall: must be ‘considered work by the
individual involved’
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but clear problems from possible mistake
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Varying social contexts
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institutionalised contexts vary widely
– e.g. residential aged care, panelbeating,
university research
– Do they have anything in common?
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Parry et al:
– ‘areas as diverse as prostitution, voluntary work,
fathering and community work’
– understanding needed of ‘what constitutes work’
•
But do we need to find a common element?
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Significance of the issue:
law
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e.g. contract of service
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‘obedience to orders in doing work, …’
(Kitto J, in Attorney-General for NSW v Perpetual Trustee Co Ltd [1952])
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definition affects legal entitlements
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Significance of the issue:
labour economics and policy
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employment statistics :
‘a person must have been engaged in some
economic activity (work)’ [sic]
(ABS, Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2006)
•
definition affects investment, public policy
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Significance of the issue:
feminist theory and public policy
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domestic activities as work, mostly unpaid,
mainly by women
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role in theories of exploitation
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but contentious: ‘Is a mother playing with her
baby working or engaged in play?’
(Ferguson, ‘Feminist perspectives on class and work’,
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004)
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Significance of the issue:
sociological theory
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definitions of social structure
– e.g. Marx, role of labour in class definition, etc
– where ‘labour’ = ‘work’
(Marx & Engels, Selected Works, Moscow 1969: see index)
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or whether managerial functions are ‘work’
(cf Mintzberg, The Nature of Managerial Work, 1980)
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Significance of the issue:
psychological theory
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‘central place in shaping individuals’ identities’
(Fouad & Bynner, American Psychologist, 2008)
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‘can be essential for psychological health’
(Blustein, American Psychologist, 2008)
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‘functions to meet needs for survival,
relatedness and self-determination’
(Blustein, American Psychologist, 2008)
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Significance of the issue:
religious practice
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distinction between work and non-work
– ritual significance for many religions
•
historical significance: religious attitudes to
work tied to wider social practices
(e.g. Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,
[1904–5] 1930)
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Summary so far
idea of ‘work’
1. is difficult, vague, ill-defined
2. plays key role in theory
3. plays key role in social arrangements
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Is there a common factor?
Not:
• effort (neither necessary nor sufficient)
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‘productive’ (too hard to define)
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necessarily for others (too restrictive)
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only physical, cognitive or emotional
•
only individual or collaborative
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etc
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Is work a ‘cluster concept’?
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Wittgenstein: e.g. ‘game’
– instances united by ‘family resemblance’
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then perhaps replace by precise concept?
– as in science: e.g. mass, velocity, etc
– or in law: e.g. vessel
•
adopt definition that gives most fruitful and
useful concept
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Essentially contested concept
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precision suiting one area may not suit all
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one area uses or contests another’s idea
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definitions of work challenge institutions
•
what notion will be ‘most fruitful and useful’
is just what is in contention
– e.g. line between work and family life
•
analogy with ‘democracy’
– the term may not be useful for theory or policy
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Do without the concept?
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in theorising ‘exploitation’, use ideas like
‘benefit’, ‘informed consent’, etc
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in assessing tax, replace ‘work’ with ‘personal
exertion’
•
in fostering investment, think about worth to
individuals and communities
•
in social relations, think about functions of an
activity in market exchange
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etc
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Loose end
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people’s attitudes are affected by whether
something is generally considered ‘work’
– analogy with ‘democracy’
– rhetorical, ideological function
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but theory and policy ought not be driven by
rhetoric and ideology
•
attitudes can follow clear theory and policy
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