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The Invention of Work in Modernity: H egel, M arx, and W eber
Author(s) -
Just Daniel
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/johs.12091
Subject(s) - protestant work ethic , modernity , power (physics) , duty , work (physics) , sociology , philosophy , theology , political science , engineering , epistemology , law , physics , capitalism , mechanical engineering , quantum mechanics , politics
Abstract In the modern era, a wide range of human activities has been redefined as work. This essay traces a genealogy of the modern conception of work, from early Protestant ethic of work as worship of G od, through secularization of this ethic and the emergence of the idea of progress, to the later model of work as personal duty and source of stability. Analyzing H egel, M arx, and W eber's interpretations of the growing centrality of work in the modern epoch, as well as later reflections on these interpretations by K ojève, A rendt, and F oucault, the paper argues that in modernity work is no longer a mere instrument of power and tool for repressing human life, but a mode of power of its own accord: a privileged means of shaping life by cultivating and regulating its productive potential. Modern society is reorganized according to the principles of productivity, efficiency, and economic welfare of population as a whole that recalibrate individual existence and posit virtually all activities as a form of work.