SOC 001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Juliet Schor

• School: College of The Sequoias
• Department: Sociology (SOC)
• Course: SOC 001
• Professor: tootle

Document Summary

Capitalism"s most durable myth: that it has reduced human toil. Typically defended by comparison of modern 40 hr week w/ 70-80 hr weeks in 19th century assumption is that the 80 hr standard has prevailed for centuries. Not true at all before capitalism, most people didn"t work very long hours tempo of life slow, leisurely, pace of work relaxed. Medieval people worked from dawn to dusk, but had a bunch of breaks bunch of holidays also celebrated. Capitalism created strong incentives to keep work hrs long. Clock would replace the sun but clock controlled by employer. Crisis of labor in textile industry illustrates 2 important points: Employers used time itself to regulate labor ownership of time became an important weapon. Working time became crucial economic variable profoundly affecting ability of businesses to survive and prosper. In medieval times no economic competition or need for profits to motivate longer work days.