eds1203: individual learner task

Work through pictures...

Figure 1: Man's evolution also through work

This picture caught my attention when I was surfing on the Internet. It strikes me most because it pictures out clearly man's evolution as well as the type of work man practiced through centuries. In fact in this picture we can notice the different tools the man has in his possession with respect to the type of work he performed at the those particular times. The last stage of the picture portraits us how after the Industrial Revolution and due to technology, man is a slave of the computer.

Figure 2: Discrimination at work

In the first picture of Figure 2 we are seeing the subordination of the factory workers towards their boss. In fact we can read: “Work of die!” Unfortunately in the second picture the child really needs to work or else he dies. However, is this right? That child has no choice between choosing to go to school or to work. He has a right for education as any other child in the world. In the last picture it is strangely noticed that the man is being discriminated. I said 'strangely noticed' because for centuries, and I consider that nowadays the issue is currently the same, at work women are discriminated by comparison to men.

Figure 3: Women and Work

I am greatly aware of women discrimination with regards work. These pictures are New York advertising in Pre-Industrial times. It is clearly seen the stereotyping of the women as possessor of men whom their work is only to clean, take care of offsprings and prepare food for their husbands whereas men are considered to be the tougher figure who are likely to work (breadwinners of the family) and defend their properties. Certainly although some biological researches show that there are certain differences between males and females, I strongly agree that female are capable as males in work, and that this issue regarding work should not be regarded and entitled under the consideration of gender but of personal capabilities.

Figure 4: Work Significance

I really found the first two pictures in Figure 4 mirroring nowadays reality. The majority of the workers go to work with no enthusiasm and especially those workers working with no the supervisions do nothing such as lazy around. If not the case as they arrive home they do nothing just watching TV and relax on the sofa eating, as couch potatoes. They think that because they went to work it is enough and they made their part. I think that work is only a big piece of the whole puzzle representing life and one must not feel bored in going to work. The last picture however shows the typical persons who get a profession and their retirement they don’t ever change their routine.

Figure 5: Work Crisis

This is seen all over the world that we are passing from an on continuing work crisis. These two pictures in Figure 5 represent this effect on the economy and on the individual. The second picture however shows the progress through which work and people struggled for, and what ultimately they are asking nowadays: a living.

Figure 6: Choices of work

Work can be categories in different ways. The first picture in Figure 6 outlines the advantages of self-employment. The second and last picture refers to those who had studied for years and still they don’t find any job who suits them. Thus, they seek alternatives. Hopefully it does not happen the same thing as the cartoon character to us :)

A positive remark about work is that it can help you mentally, economically and socially. However it can also create a lot of stress...

eds1203: group task

How did work change society after the Industrial Revolution?

By reading Chapter 2 of Grint’s book The Sociology of Work (2005) regarding the history of work, Chris, Katya, Clarisse and I noticed certain features of change in society after the Industrial Revolution.

In the Pre-Industrial Society the only method of earning a living was through agriculture. Families used to live in villages working at cottage industry. In Britain, their property consisted of their home as well as their agricultural land. Thus, work was done within reach of home and had no specific time or rituals when they start their work. All members of the family participated in work for their financial necessities. Therefore the work of this Agrarian Society depended on all elements such as the seasons. The number of children within the family also had a large impact on the production. In such a patriarchal society, men dominated the family’s economical system. It was a common issue that when the husband died only the first male offspring inherited major possessions and even the dominant role.

“In the second half of the eighteenth century, and the beginnings of Industrial Revolution proper, the occupational structure alters quite markedly: manufacturing, or rather textile manufacturing, mushrooms in size, with the numbers of men engaged tripling in fifty years, while the number of weavers doubles. Relatedly, building, mining, the professions and the armed forces all expand rapidly, while the numbers of unskilled rose only marginally and agricultural employment drops to the point where, very approximately, just over a third of the population were engaged in agriculture in some form by the beginning of the nineteenth century.”

Grint, 2005; 57

As proved by this quotation, there were radical changes by this revolution. This was surely reflected in society especially regarding the world of work.

During the Industrial Period, capitalists invested in their land by building factories where they installed machinery to change raw materials into products sold to the consumer market. The problem was that machines needed to be handled by man. Therefore man had to abandon his village life and family for a number of hours a day to work in a factory. Stevenson denotes how the industrial revolution has also brought about the decline of the family as a collective work unit (Grint, 2005). Distance prohibited families to settle in small house creating industrial towns.

However, we must note that in Pre-Industrial Society “As Mathias notes, it was not just economic need which maintained the family-based industry but also ‘the cohension of family employment [and]… the values of a whole way of life’.” (Grint, 2005; 56)

Such changes brought by this revolution affected people in several ways. In Pre-Industrial Society people depended on agriculture, so they were more environmental friendly. On the other hand, after this transition people became detached from natural environment living in urban areas that by time started to get polluted because of factories. As a consequence this lead to a lot of health problems.

This type of work in the industrial area used to create alienation, exploitation and individualism. Women were not on equal terms as males. Women’s job was not considered as valuable because the men perceived it as a role. In fact, when trade unions were created, even though they were supposed to stand up for all workers, women were discriminated from this right. The actual aim of trade unionism was “to bring about a condition…where wives and daughters would be in their proper sphere at home, instead of being dragged into competition for livelihood against the great and strong men of the world” (Grint, 2005;72). Even though they tried to protect women from being abused of employers like for example over working and under paying them for all the hard work, only men were considered as workers.

To sum it up the history of work was always focused on men. Several changes occurred both in society and its environment due to the advent of the industrial revolution.