Concept in Definition ABC

Work is the effort made by humans in order to produce wealth. From a theoretical point of view, this topic has been approached from different angles, whether economic, social or historical, mainly because of its relevant scope in what does the development of the humanity.

In the beginning of history, and for thousands of years, work was done primarily by slave labor, owned by an owner who had the right to enjoy or use the goods produced. Thus, the slave was treated as one more commodity, with the possibility of being sold or bought. This situation is verifiable from the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire and the slave trade carried out during the conquest of America. This particular state of work ended in the nineteenth century (at least permitted).

Previously, during the Middle Ages, the feudal regime had developed, where slavery was excluded. In this case, work was called servitude, the servants being free men, since although they had limits in their work, their people were not the property of another. Basically, in this period and during this form of

social organization, the worker (servant) made a contract with a feudal lord in which he promised to work in exchange for protection. It is the precedent most similar to the modality of what today we call work.

An important aspect regarding work is the definition between "manual" and "intellectual". What does this mean? Manual work is that which has been developed from the beginning of the human being as a person qualified to carry out "work force”, And here are included from the slaves to the men who worked with the first steam engines, in the times of the Industrial Revolution English. However, this type of work is not a thing of the past, since it is still in force today. Take, for example, metalworkers or mechanics.

But during the postwar period, a new form of work began to develop: the "intellectual" one, with the appearance of the “white-collar” workers, as those who exercised these types of jobs. And this was thanks to the notion of "surplus value" also incorporated at this time, which is the same as we know as "added value": it is the development of science and technology that improves and optimizes assets manufactured. In addition to goods, also at this time the idea of ​​"services" begins to take effect, which are all "intangible" goods (which we cannot touch) that we can acquire: tourist packages, life insurance or hiring a specialist to fix the PC.

Currently, the work is done in exchange for a salary. Thus, the worker sells his work force in the market and receives remuneration for it. The employer, for its part, hires personnel in order to receive a profit. The interests of the workers are protected by the unions, which collectively bargain wages according to each particular sector. In addition to this protection, workers are protected by the set of labor laws. In this sense, the changes produced during The Walfare State, or what became known as The Welfare State, are remarkable. During the 1930s and 1970s, the State was highly intervenor, balancing the differences of interests between the capitalists (the market) and the workers (wage earners). In this period, workers achieved great achievements to improve their working conditions, such as paid vacations, fixed hours, days off to enjoy the family and leisure.

The neoliberal policies established between the '80s and' 90s minimize some of these conquests of labor benefits, such as, for example, labor flexibility: through this politics, the State benefits the capitalists, being able to disconnect a worker from his company, paying a compensation less than those that were previously granted at the time of cutting the employment contract.

Lack of work or unemployment is one of the social and economic ills that states must combat. From an economic point of view, it means a way of despising resources valuable, and from the social point of view, leads to situations of poverty and homelessness.

Work is enshrined by the United Nations as a Human Right, by which every person (that is, every inhabitant of this planet) has freedom to choose a job, to enjoy good working conditions, and of course, all kinds of slavery or slavery is abolished. servitude.

Topics at Work