Housekeeping: Defining “Labour vs Career”
This post continues to explore the interelation between the nature of work and human nature at a time when the notion of Work is being questioned.
I recognised that I’ve embarked on two separate threads delving into the Philosophy of Work: One labelled “Labour” and one labelled “Career”.
As a broad framework, the series on Career will refer to guiding principles and frameworks that have helped me, as an individual assess and determine where to work;
On the other hand, Labour refers to the broader meaning of work and its relation to society - more of a philosophical inquiry if you will.
My usual guilty prvilege disclaimer: I feel that the context of this post will have tones of entitlement and choice - where i must acknowledge that in current times it is a privilege.
Interestingly, the precursor of this post was originally tagged as post 29. longg overdue.
Work, as is defined by the Commons
As this series delves a bit into the abstract, conceptual parts of what work is. We do the usual questioning: What is Work? and when does work count as work?
If I took reality as a starting point, what consitutes Work is pretty much built on a common definition defined by society and governments. There are today, legal bases on what entails work following a spectrum of things touching on labour laws, corporate laws, etc. Definitions of employment matter: in practical terms, they directly determine what is broadly valued by society, and who qualifies for certain subsidies.
This common view however, has evolved massively over the course of human history - one which I will get more in a later post. It wasn’t always this way. The form of work runs across spectrums of hierachy. (and I note that Humans have historically, very much been operating in hierachies). On one end, Slavery, Serfdom, Indentured Servitude were all common models in antiquity; and on the other hand, Employment contracts, and universal labour laws provide clearer boundaries of what is recognised today.
I don’t inherently disagree with this defintion in principle (Obviously I live within this definition) - it is pragmatic, and pays the bills.
Work, as defined by the Sunday Philosopher
But to ponder over a Sunday afternoon (as one does), I must naturally open the philosophical can of worms and spend too much brainpower on my own definition. And I think it is correct to question the current definition as the trends point towards a (more on that in a a later post.
There are examples that fall through the cracks: hermits working for themselves (without the labour-power dynamic); or people being paid for things that don’t contribute positively to society; and people contributing to society who don’t get paid.
Personally, I loosely define work as some form of effort to survive that is valued and rewarded by society.
This very unscientific defintion comes from a point of view that while we are not starving as much as we used to; nor being chased by as many lions as our predecessors, I suppose there are segments of people that do not have to work to “survive”, and hence its important to not forget thsi part.
I lean towards some primal instincts: and survivability is as universal and biological a definition as it gets as an underlying motivator of work. Whether for self or for tribe, we work hard to see “progress”.
Moreover, and subject to the societal freedoms of its era, I would argue the pressure to survive and be instinctively entrepreneurial is the story of most of mankinds history. The snippets of mercantilism seen across history is very much a reflection of human creativity and ingenuity to achieve. Of course, there were many periods in history where the level of freedom did not permit this based on hierachy.
Based on this definition, being a stay at home mom for example, is work. This question is already a topical issue today that redefines the notion of being employed and generating GDP against what surely must be valued by society. I personally, am a proud product of that effort, although that effort is unrecognised by economists.
But it opens a large can of worms. Does being “hot”, and in pursuit of a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Mommy meet the definition? Probably yes: there is some form of effort or choice, in exchange for some form of contribution of value, albeit difficult to quantify and measure.
Facets of work to consider
As part of this series, that tackles the topic on a more philosophical perspective;
Who do we work for? The self, the person, the family, the company, the society
What do we work for? *Material and after needs are met, fulfilment. *
Further reading: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/work-labor/