Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Cognition and emotion
- Part III Self-attribution and self-esteem
- Part IV Human relations
- Part V Work
- 13 Learning at work: beyond human capital
- 14 Degradation of work in the market?
- 15 Distributing workplace learning
- 16 Giving work priority over consumption
- Part VI Rewards
- Part VII Utility and happiness
- Part VIII Conclusion
- Author index
- Subject index
14 - Degradation of work in the market?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Cognition and emotion
- Part III Self-attribution and self-esteem
- Part IV Human relations
- Part V Work
- 13 Learning at work: beyond human capital
- 14 Degradation of work in the market?
- 15 Distributing workplace learning
- 16 Giving work priority over consumption
- Part VI Rewards
- Part VII Utility and happiness
- Part VIII Conclusion
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
To the Greeks work was a curse and nothing else. Their name for it – PON OS – has the same root as the Latin POENA, sorrow. For them PON OS was colored with that sense of a heavy burdensome task which we feel in the words FATIGUE, TRAVAIL, BURDEN. The turn of phrase which in English is restricted to downright drudgery, the Greeks applied to physical work of every sort. … Close contact with the material world seemed to them a painful and humiliating necessity, to be reduced to the lowest possible minimum, if possible to be eliminated altogether.
Tilgher, Work: What It Has Meant to Man Through the AgesIn the previous chapter I quoted Meakin's comments on “a crisis of conscience in the world of work” and his references to “a powerful and vivid indictment of a world that degraded work.” One of the main themes of this book is that most work is not degrading; rather, under certain circumstances, it is a major source of both happiness and human development. Consequently it is crucial that we assess these criticisms of work in the light of the evidence in Chapter 13 and of other empirical studies illuminating the various aspects of the degradation thesis.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Market Experience , pp. 260 - 288Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991