Division of labour
Separation of tasks enabling specialisation and economic interdependence.
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The division of labour refers to the specialisation of work tasks, which has been observed since the Neolithic Revolution when pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable food supplies and spurred labour specialisation.[1] Industrialisation and the factories of the Industrial Revolution era advanced the specialisation of labour.[1] Proponents of the division of labour included numerous classical economists and mechanical engineers, for instance Charles Babbage.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Economics
- Sociology
- Industrial Organisation
- Known for
- Concept of task specialisation to increase productivity and trade
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Plato is credited as an early proponent of the division of labour based on arguments in his Republic, though he ultimately critiqued it for hindering individuals from ordering their own souls.[2] Augustine of Hippo's writings show that the division of labour was practised in late Imperial Rome, with awareness of different social layers in production like households and corporations.[3] Medieval Persian scholars such as al-Ghazali and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi discussed the division of labour among household members, society, and nations, considering it necessary and useful.[4] Smith also criticised the division of labour, stating it can make man "as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become"[5]
Karl Marx argued that increasing specialisation leads to workers with poorer overall skills and reduced enthusiasm, describing the process as alienation. Émile Durkheim observed that the division of labour appears in all societies and positively correlates with societal advancement.[6][7]
What the cited sources add
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations states that the greatest improvements in the productive powers of labour seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.[8] Smith's text describes how a pin-maker's work is divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which in some manufactories are all performed by distinct hands.[8] Smith attributes the great increase in work quantity from division of labour to three circumstances: increased dexterity, saving time lost in switching tasks, and the invention of machines that facilitate labour.[8] According to the 2007 ILO Global Employment Trends Report, in 2006 the service sector's portion of worldwide employment surpassed agriculture for the first time, rising from 39.5% to 40%.[9]
Deon Filmer calculated that during the mid-1990s, the global non-domestic labour force comprised 2.474 billion individuals.[9] Filmer estimated that in the 1990s, worldwide there were about 880 million employees, while roughly one billion people worked on their own account in agriculture, and about 480 million were self-employed in industry and services.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rosenberg, "Exploring the Black Box: Technology, economics and history", Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 25, 27–32, 37–8 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silvermintz, "Plato's Supposed Defense of the Division of Labor: A Reexamination of the Role of Job Specialisation in the Republic", History of Political Economy, 2010, p. 747–72; Silvermintz, "Plato's Supposed Defense of the Division of Labor: A Reexamination of the Role of Job Specialisation in the Republic", History of Political Economy, 2010, p. 747–72 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burns, "Social Institutions and the Politics of Recognition: From the Ancient Greeks to the Reformation", Rowman & Littlefield, 2020-07-16, p. 127 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hosseini, "Seeking the Roots of Adam Smith's Division of Labor in Medieval Persia", History of Political Economy, 1998, p. 667–673 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smith, "An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", University of Chicago Press, 1976, p. ii.302–303; Rothbard, "The Celebrated Adam Smith", An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought; Tocqueville, "Democracy in America: Volume I", J. & H. G. Langley, 1841, p. 460; Hill, "Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson and the Division of Labor", 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marx, Karl. [1844] 1963. "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844." In Karl Marx Early Writings, edited by T. B. Bottomore. London: C.A. Watts and Co. § (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alpert, "Emile Durkheim: A Perspective and Appreciation", American Sociological Review, 1959, p. 462–65 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith", www.gutenberg.org. facts only, no text reused. gutenberg.org
- Wikipedia, "Division of labour" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "ILO releases Global Employment Trends 2007", ILO News, 25 January 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Division of labour (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Division of labour (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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