GS 336: Work and Society

Lecture 7
 2: Work in Historical Perspectives
Outline/Objectives:

 Work in Historical Perspective: Introduction

 Pre-Industrial Work in Britain
• Roman Britain
• Feudal Britain
• Early Capitalism
• Mercantilism
Work in Historical Perspective: Introduction…
The historical perspectives on work highlight several critical
features of work. That is:

 First, work is a social not an individual activity. Even those who do

work on their own do so within a socially constructed network of
relations. Therefore, work is essentially a social phenomenon; a
world of symbolic representations, meanings and interpretations.

 Second, historically the very term ‘work’ is ambiguous and

transient. Disputes exist, for instance, about meaning of work,
and such disputes are often resolved in favor of the powerful
ones.

 Third, some patterns of work are temporary while others remain

permanent.
…Work in Historical Perspective: Introduction

 Fourth, the social inequalities of work manifest in gender, ethnic

and class divisions long before the rise of capitalism.
Theoretically, systematic inequalities are solely not the product of
capitalism.

 Fifth, the image of work as separate from the home and the
associated predominance of male breadwinners is both
historically atypical and theoretically blurring. In fact, home and
the place of work have always been, and still are, intimately
connected by a whole web of social interdependence.

 Sixth, a historical knowledge and understanding of work is

essential for the explanation of contemporary work being the
result of contemporary actors.
 Work in Roman Britain
 Financial calculation for work was almost irrelevant for the people involved.
 Most of the people were engaged in subsistence farming, with few specialized
regional products. For example, Britain was known as a leading producer of
agricultural commodities (cattle, hides and corn), as well as hunting dogs, slaves and
precious metals (just like China for silk, India for textile).
 War was fulltime work of the Roman Army and the economic capability of the Empire
were intertwined in War---it was work unlike any other in the underlying aim of
securing a living, through perfecting the art of killing.
Work in Roman Britain

 The largest non-military industry for the

major part of the Roman period was
supposedly the pig-iron industry: Almost
1500 craft workers would have been
sufficient to provide the necessary labor in
this industry.

 In addition to farming, soldering and

molding iron, there were other
occupations/specializations as well. For
example, some people were full-time
potters, cobblers, shopkeepers, smiths,
metal and jewelry workers, masons and
builders, carpenters.
 Work in Feudal Britain
 By the fifth century A.D., once the Roman army had left, Britain was
under the control of external and internal military groups.
 A feudal system emerged which conjoined a method of agriculture
based production with a military protection racket.
 In return for resisting external threats to life, the military aristocracy
secured the surplus from their peasants.
 Work in Feudal Britain
 The feudal system, which was somehow
politically stable, contributed to economic
and technical development but
undermined social and legal rigidities. For
example, the notion of property rights
underwent some radical transformations
in Britain.
 With the fluctuating birth rate and natural
calamity like Black Death, economic
productivity declined which weakened the
position of nobilities. An increasing
demand from the peasantry would make
the most of its new labor market strength
despite its failure in revolt.
 Early Capitalism
 Social relations between serf and master gradually finished or fainted away in
favor of economic relations: a shift from the provision of labor to the provision of
money rent.
 Personal form of authority diminished: Centre of authority was state, not the
nobles.
 The state was powerful enough to give privileges to local trade groups and
guilds of craft workers: The age of feudalism was closing, giving birth to market
capitalism.
 At this stage, there were minimal technological innovations: labor intensive
industries except for woolen cloth.
 Besides, Flanders (traders from Belgium) proved to be the single most important
factor in the development of English commerce from 12 to 14 century.
 In England, luxury textiles were surpassed by those of Italy and Low Countries
while in mining and metals it was out-produced by Germans and Swedes, and in
many other things by all of these countries as well as France and Spain.
Mercantilism
Governmental regulation of nation’s economy in 16th to 18th century Europe
The disappearance of many guilds by the 16-to-18 century England.
The state control of working arrangements was considerable: it worked through legislative
controls set wages and conditions, and intervened extensively in a mercantilist fashion to
protect and promote native industries. For example, to help the woolen industry and its
workers, there was a legal obligation to be buried in a woolen shroud and the Statue of
Artificers of 1563 demanded a seven year apprenticeship for all clothiers.
State took some serious and hard measures to promote technical advancement before the
Industrial Revolution. In this regard, in 1813 seventeen Luddites were hanged for their part in
the rebellion against the new shearing technology.
The attempt to replace the ‘moral economy’ with the ‘market economy’ was a transition
coupled with some violent conflicts (Thompson, 1968).
The State dismantling of the legal restrictions on trade and industry in early 18th century, the
economic production of England increased compared to its neighbors.
A shift of textiles from the town-based guilds to the rural based putting-out system i.e. the
original greenfield sites. However town life was also bursting at the same time because of the
diverse occupations.
Mercantilism
 Thank You!

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