Workers and the Workplace

Homo Faber / Homo LudensHomo Faber, “The working human”Intelligence is the “faculty to create artificial objects, in particular tools

to make tools, and to indefinitely variate its makings” -- Henri Bergson (1907)

Homo Ludens, “The playing human”“Culture itself bears the character of play”—Johan Huizinga (1938). The histories of work and play are synonymous with the history of the

human species. We are tool makers who have gained modest control over the

environment. But the daily struggle, for many people in the world, has led to a routine and very meager existence and very circumscribed and mediated forms of play.

The low tech approach

The !Kung Bushmen of Africa work about 12 to 19 hours per week.Women do most of the labor and run the society.As in earlier eras: —there was no frenetic pace “to get ahead.”

—work and entertainment were mixed.—the economy was non-inflationary.—labor was non-specialized.

The development of agriculture meant that people had more food (crops and domesticated animals), but they also had to work harder. They were tied to the land.

Servitude and Slavery as an institution was common.

Questions: Does low tech = a life of toil?Does high tech = a life of leisure?Have machines become our slaves? (Labor-saving devices)Or did we become servants of the machine? (More work for all)

Time

In medieval monasteries monks became clock watchers.Newton said the universe was like a clock and God was the clock maker.The bells of the church tower were replaced by the factory whistle.

Keeping the factory machines running around the clock, 7-3, 3-11, 11-7, became the norm. Time became a commodity. “Rush hour” is thus related to the mechanical universe. Phrases like “saving time,” “wasting time,” “spending time,” and “time is money” became common.

Leisure time became more and more organized. E.g. Little League, two week vacations (Europeans regularly take 5 to 6 week vacations).

“Free time” does not equal leisure, but is used to support our consumer-driven standard of living, e.g. fixing the house, mowing the lawn, washing the car.

Participation in passive, mediated leisure activities is also prevalent.What about free play? .

Today’s workerThere are 168 hours in a week.

46 (27%) are spent working35 (21%) are spent sleeping to recover from the fatigue of work 10 (6%) are spent commuting5 (3%) are spent getting ready for work24 (14%) are evenings, worrying, and complaining about work

48 (28%) are weekendsTOTAL 168 hours (100%)

Work hours declined from 67 per week in 1860 to 42 per week in 1950. Since then, the average work week has increased to 46 hours today.

The Overworked American:The Unexpected Decline of Leisure

“When people put in excessive hours they reach a point of diminishing returns -- they use more time on personal needs, run more errands, and call in sick more often”

At the end of World War II, the US had the shortest working hours among other industrialized countries… We now have the longest. The average American worker is putting in 200 more hours per year than he or she was in 1973."—Juliet Schor.

The American Workforce

1850 1910 1990s 2010sEotechnic Paleotechnic Neotechnic ????Farm Factory OfficeNature Machinery Information Farmers 64% Factory 40% Service 55%

Farmers 30% Factory 28%Farmers 3%

Technology has initiated a transformation of work from physical to mental.

Women workers

Women have been part of the market economy since colonial times.1. When doing the same work, women are paid less than men.2. Women are rarely hired to do the same work as men (sex typing).3. Women see themselves and are seen as transient in the workplace. They are

expected to marry and raise children. There are fewer women in senior positions such as management.

4. Some low paying men’s jobs in the 19th century have become stereotypical women’s jobs in the 20th century: seamstresses, schoolteachers, bookkeepers, secretaries.

5. The home (traditionally women’s sphere) is seen as a low-paying or non-paying workplace. Even though having individual kitchens, laundries, etc. in every home could be considered inefficient in an industrial society. there has been great resistance to such ideas as communal or “socialized” kitchens or laundries. Today’s trend toward home offices and “telecommuting” often means women (and men) are outsiders to office politics. Such jobs are often the first to be cut or marginalized during downsizing.

IssuesTechnological unemployment -- Robots, computers, and other electronic devices have

changed the workplace and have created new jobs and eliminated older ones. The new jobs, however, do not necessarily go to the old employees. People need to be involved in “life-long” learning. Still there is age discrimination and some employers, given the opportunity, replace higher paid older workers with younger entry-level workers.

De-skilling caused by technology -- The transfer of skills from physical to mechanical, or from general to specific. E.g. John Henry and the pile driving machine (1870s) or hand-made goods being replaced by machine-based goods. In some cases a highly-skilled crafter can be replaced by an automated device that just needs to be oiled and tended.

On the job safety -- There has been improvement in machine safety since the early industrial revolution and the government (OSHA) sets some standards. Still, there are more and more hazardous chemicals, and different kinds of workplace injuries, for example carpal tunnel syndrome. There are also increasing stress-related disorders and new problems such as sick building syndrome. In general there are fewer violent deaths on the job, but more long-term debilitating injuries and diseases.

De-skilling

The task-oriented “craftsman” worked long and hard to complete the job. Worker had many general skills. People were often paid for piecework.

The time-oriented “industrial” worker punches a clock and is paid by the hour.

Workers are “de-skilled” by running only certain machines or by doing repetitive actions. Frederick Jackson Taylor, Scientific Management, studied the motions and schedules of workers to maximize factory efficiency.

TAYLORISM• Frederick Taylor (1911) Principles of Scientific Management devised a means of

detailing a division of labor in time-and-motion studies and a wage system based on performance.

• The main elements of the Scientific Management (Taylorism) are: time studies (e.g., screw on each bolt in 15.2 seconds), standardization of tools and implements, the use of "slide-rules and similar time-saving devices", instruction cards for workmen (detailing exactly what they should do), task allocation, etc. Taylor called these elements "merely the elements or details of the mechanisms of management"

• Perhaps the key idea of scientific management and the one which has drawn the most criticism was the concept of task allocation. Task allocation is the concept that breaking task into smaller and smaller tasks allows the determination of the optimum solution to the task. "The man in the planning room, whose specialty is planning ahead, invariably finds that the work can be done more economically by subdivision of the labour; each act of each mechanic, for example, should be preceded by various preparatory acts done by other men."

FORDISM• A manufacturing philosophy that aims to achieve higher productivity by

standardizing the output, using conveyor assembly lines, and breaking the work into small deskilled tasks.

• Whereas Taylorism (on which Fordism is based) seeks machine and worker efficiency, Fordism seeks to combine them as one unit, and emphasizes minimization of costs instead of maximization of profit.

• Fordism also sought, in an era of high immigration, to assimilate the American workforce and their families as American citizens (and future owners of Fords), and inculcate patriotic and middle-class values.

Modern TimesWritten, directed, music by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Paulette Goddard (1934)

Miller Reserve Desk DVD PN1997 .M634 2003 AVAILABLE

Program Notes: A devastating satire on industrial life, Modern Times is the first film in which Chaplin employed sound effects, and marks the final appearance of his "Little Tramp" character. In this delightfully madcap comedy, Chaplin plays a hapless factory worker who cracks under the strain of his job and runs amok. Unemployed on the streets of Depression America, he joins forces with a young woman (Paulette Goddard) fleeing the childcare authorities, and they embark on a mis-adventure-filled search for happiness. One of Chaplin's most popular films, this deftly conceived, ingeniously executed social commentary is still every bit as insightful, relevant, and entertaining as it was in the 1930s. Questions for Thought: How did the film portray the interaction of human needs/desires and the needs of the machine/factory/industrial society? What have "Modern Times" done to human relations and interactions?Gears, levers, and pulleys are obvious symbols of technology; what other aspects of technology were portrayed in the film?

IF YOU WATCH THE ENTIRE FILM:Police and other authority figures are everywhere in the film. What message(s) were they conveying?Were there times while viewing the film that you did not see its relevance to STS? What about on retrospect?Analyze one of the film's metaphors (such as the skating scene, the mechanic's scene, the final hopeful ending scene, etc.) in light of the film's overall theme.