Sociology 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Deskilling, Democratic Socialism, Social Forces
14 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Work refers to the carrying out of tasks, which involves the expenditure of mental and physical effort. The economy is the institution that organizes the production, distribution, and exchange of goods and services. People made permanent settlements, started herding and farming, and productivity soared. Economic revolutions altered the way work was socially organized. Division is labour: specialization of work tasks. The more specialized the work tasks in a society, the greater the division of labour. Deskilling: the process by which work tasks are broken into simple routines requiring little training to perform. Deskilling is usually accompanied by the use of machinery to replace labour wherever possible and increase management control over workers. Employers can replace skilled workers with less expensive, unskilled workers. Employers can control workers more directly since workers have less power. The deskilling thesis is incomplete as it focuses on job categories near the bottom of the occupational hierarchy.
