Class: 6
The purpose of the lesson: the formation of students' ideas about labor as the basis of any production, about the need for various forms and types of labor in the economy.
Lesson objectives: form ideas about various types of professions, types and types of labor, about labor cooperation as an effective way production activities to cultivate an understanding of the need for all professions in the economy.
Basic concepts and categories: school economics, labor, types and forms of labor, labor cooperation.
1. Chapter 14. §1. Questions for the paragraph.
2. a) Do your research.
b) Think about how the names of these professions are composed.
3. Suppose you are hiring people. What qualities of an employee do you consider important for:
4. Are there qualities necessary for all workers? If yes, which ones, if not, why?
Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
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Introduction
sociological dimension labor production
Labor plays an exceptionally important role in the implementation and development of human society and each of its members. Therefore, this topic is quite relevant in our time. Thanks to the work of many thousands of generations of people, a huge potential has been accumulated productive forces, colossal social wealth, a modern civilization was formed. Further progress of human society is impossible without the development of production and labor. At all times, labor has been and remains the most important production factor, a type of human activity.
In this semester work, we will study the sociological dimension of work. Sociology studies labor as a socio-economic process. The labor process is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The main forms of its manifestation are the expenditure of human energy, the interaction of workers with the means of production (objects and means of labor) and the production interaction of workers with each other both horizontally (the relationship of participation in a single labor process) and vertically (the relationship between managers and subordinates).
This paper examines the social essence of labor. Labor activity is the leading, main human activity. Labor is the basis for the functioning and development of any human society, independent of any public forms a condition for the existence of people, an eternal, natural necessity; without it, human life itself was not possible.
Also in the semester work, the main elements of social production are explored: material and spiritual production. Labor is an activity aimed at the production of certain socially useful (or at least consumed by society) products: material or spiritual. In a broad sense, the words labor are understood not only as the activity of people in the production of material goods, but also in the creation of spiritual values.
Sociologicalmeasurementlabor
The question arises why we begin the review of particular sociological theories with the sociological problems of labor, the labor collective, because we can start, for example, with the sociology of the individual.
Labor is the purposeful activity of people aimed at creating material and cultural values. Labor is the basis and an indispensable condition for the life of people.
Labor presupposes a certain social form (man is a social being), certain relationships between people in the process of labor activity. Therefore, the history of civilization, the history of man is not only the evolution of tools, objects and methods of labor, but no less a continuous change in relations between people themselves in the process of labor activity.
Sociology studies labor as a socio-economic process. The labor process is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The main forms of its manifestation are the expenditure of human energy, the interaction of workers with the means of production (objects and means of labor) and the production interaction of workers with each other both horizontally (the relationship of participation in a single labor process) and vertically (the relationship between managers and subordinates). The role of labor in the development of man and society lies not only in the creation of material and spiritual values, but also in the fact that in the process of labor the person himself reveals his abilities, acquires useful skills, replenishes and enriches knowledge. The creative nature of labor finds its expression in the emergence of new ideas, progressive technologies, more advanced and highly productive tools, new types of products, materials, energy, which, in turn, lead to the development of needs.
In the process of labor, people enter into social and labor relations, interacting with each other. Social and labor relations make it possible to determine the social significance, role, place, social position of an individual and a group.
The sociology of labor is the study of the functioning and social aspects of the labor market. In a narrow sense, the sociology of labor refers to the behavior of employers and employees in response to economic and social incentives to work. The subject of the sociology of labor as a special sociological theory is the structure and mechanism of social and labor relations, as well as social processes and phenomena in the sphere of labor.
The purpose of the sociology of labor is the study of social phenomena, processes, the development of recommendations for their regulation and management, forecasting and planning, aimed at creating favorable conditions for the functioning of society, a team, a group, an individual in the sphere of work and achieving, on this basis, the most complete realization and the optimal combination of their interests.
Tasks of the sociology of labor:
Study and optimization of the social structure of society, labor organization (team).
Analysis of the labor market as a regulator of optimal and rational mobility labor resources.
Search for ways to optimally realize the labor potential of a modern worker.
Search for ways to optimally combine moral and material incentives and improve attitudes towards work in a market environment.
Study of the causes and development of a system of measures to prevent and resolve labor disputes and conflicts.
Definition of an effective system of social guarantees that protect workers.
In another way, it can be said that the tasks of the sociology of labor are reduced to the development of methods and techniques for using social factors in the interests of solving, first of all, the most important socio-economic problems of society and the individual. In general, the sociology of labor is called upon, on the one hand, to expand knowledge about real-life activities, and on the other hand, to promote the establishment of new connections and processes taking place in the sphere of labor. Labor activity is always woven into specific socio-economic conditions, associated with certain socio-professional groups, localized in time and space. Therefore, sociology studies the social form and conditions of labor, its social organization (collective, individual, family, forced, voluntary). It is extremely important to know the mechanisms of a person's inclusion in labor activity, that is, value orientations, motives, job satisfaction, and much more.
To date, the sociology of labor is the most developed part of the domestic sociological science. This also affected the formation of certain economic specialties. For example, in 1987, in universities, the specialty "economics of labor" was transformed into "economics and sociology of labor", which testified to the recognition of the fact that without social knowledge, without sociology, an effective management process in the labor collective is no longer conceivable.
The nature of labor determines the technical and economic content, social form, socio-economic quality of labor, social differences: social position, social status, material well-being, use of free time, etc. Minister, academician, teacher, accountant, worker, builder, rural machine operator, cleaner - the basis of socio-professional differences between representatives of these professions lies primarily in the nature of work.
It is clear that in any study of the social problems of labor in society as a whole or in a separate production team, first of all, the nature of labor, both aggregate and individual, is taken into account. The content of labor determines the specific labor activity, functional duties, the degree of physical and intellectual stress, sanitary and hygienic conditions, and many other characteristics. The labor of workers on the assembly line, railway, in aviation, state farm, construction has a different content. The content of labor is largely determined by professional qualifications, personal characteristics of a particular employee, even with other things being equal, for example, the technical equipment of the workplace.
When conducting sociological studies of the content of labor, one can use such gradations as manual, mechanized and automated labor. If we go further, we can distinguish: simple manual and complex manual labor based on long-term training and skill of the worker, simple mechanized and complex mechanized labor, simple automated and complex automated labor.
The content of labor largely determines the personal attitude of a person to the work performed. While up to 100 percent of those surveyed among workers engaged in complex automated work express their satisfaction with the work performed, only a fifth of those working on semi-automatic machines and assembly lines express their satisfaction. At large machine-building plants, the selection of workers for assembly lines is a serious social problem.
The specificity of our country is a large number of repairmen. In the industry, to service equipment that has been in operation for decades and becomes obsolete not only morally, but also physically, one has to keep millions of repairmen. Making spare parts and repairing tractors employs more people and uses four times as many production facilities than for the production of new tractors.
We have singled out only the most basic characteristics of the content of labor, which are taken into account in a sociological study of the social problems of labor and labor activity. Of course, one has to take into account the discrepancy between the content of labor and the skill level of workers. The main trend is the lag of the level of professional qualifications, the quality of labor resources from the specific content of labor. In real conditions, the level of qualification of workers is overestimated. With a shortage of personnel, any manager, wishing to retain workers, overestimates their real qualifications in order to have a reason to pay higher wages. This problem concerns not only workers of physical, but also mental labor. However, there are other situations when, in the extreme conditions of the North, the level of qualification is significantly higher than the content of the work performed. People who own several specialties have great opportunities for professional interchangeability and, as a rule, perform the assigned work better. In modern conditions, two main factors most fully characterize the content of labor. First, the ratio of physical and mental stress in the labor process. The higher the proportion of mental labor, the higher, richer the content of labor, the more attractive it is for the employee, the greater the satisfaction from the work performed, all other things being equal. Secondly, the ratio of executive and administrative functions. The higher the professional qualification, the greater the need to participate in the development of managerial decisions. The art of management is to help performers choose the right solution. Particularly important is the delegation of managerial functions.
Socialessencelabor
Studying the problem of the development of society is impossible without studying the social essence of labor, attitudes towards it, since everything that is necessary for the life and development of people is created by labor. Labor is the basis for the functioning and development of any human society, a condition for the existence of people independent of any social forms, an eternal, natural necessity; without it, human life itself was not possible.
Labor is, first of all, a process that takes place between man and nature, a process in which man, through his own activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature. It should also be taken into account that a person, influencing nature, using and changing it in order to create use values necessary to satisfy his material and spiritual needs, not only creates material (food, clothing, housing) and spiritual benefits (art, literature, science ), but also changes its own nature. He develops his abilities and talents, develops the necessary social qualities in himself, forms himself as a person.
Labor is the root cause of human development. A person owes labor in the division of functions between the upper and lower limbs, the development of speech, the gradual transformation of the animal brain into a developed human brain, and the improvement of the senses. In the process of labor, a person's range of perceptions and ideas expanded, his labor actions gradually began to bear a conscious character.
Thus, the concept of "labor" is not only an economic, but also a sociological category, which is of decisive importance in characterizing society as a whole and its individual individuals.
Performing labor functions, people interact, enter into relationships with each other, and it is labor that is the primary category that contains the whole variety of specific social phenomena and relations.
Social labor is the common base, the source of all social phenomena. It changes the position of various groups of workers, their social qualities, which manifests the essence of labor as a basic social process. The social essence of labor is revealed most fully in the categories of "character of labor" and "content of labor."
The nature of social labor is determined by the way in which the labor force is combined with the means of production, the form of ownership of the means of production. In primitive society, the primitiveness of labor tools, which excluded the possibility of primitive people fighting the forces of nature and predatory animals alone, necessitated collective labor, communal ownership of the means of production and labor products, so labor was of a social nature, there was no exploitation of labor.
The development of the social division of labor and the expansion of exchange led to the fact that public ownership of the means of production gave way to private property, collective labor - to an individual, private, tribal system of class society. Commodity production arose and developed, reaching a general character under capitalism, when labor power also became a commodity. The labor of the commodity producer embodied in the commodity has acquired a dual character, acting on the one hand as labor in a certain form, as concrete labor that creates use value, on the other hand as the expenditure of human power in general, regardless of its specific form, as abstract labor that creates the value of the commodity. . In a society dominated by private ownership of the means of production, the dual nature of labor embodied in the commodity reflects the contradictions between the private and social labor of commodity producers. Private ownership of the means of production separates people, makes the labor of the individual commodity producer his private business. Each commodity producer conducts his economy separately from the others. The labor of individual workers is not coordinated and not linked on the scale of the whole society, but the social division of labor means the existence of a comprehensive connection between producers who work for each other, therefore the labor of an individual commodity producer is essentially social labor.
Based on the social essence of labor as a process that forms a person and society, sociology identifies three main aspects of its essence.
Firstly, it studies the social patterns of interaction between people and the means and objects of labor.
Secondly, it explores the complex of relations between the individual and the team to work, its nature, content, and working conditions, material interest, the content of labor, relationships in the team, the meaning of labor as a whole, and so on.
Thirdly, he considers the labor collective as a social organization, that is, special system relations, which forms a set of positions, roles, values, connections between its employees. Here, within the framework of the sociology of labor, diverse problems are studied concerning the structure of the labor collective, the relationship between its members, including leaders and subordinates, the socio-psychological climate, the conflicts in it and ways to resolve them.
It is also important to note the social processes that take place in collectives during the implementation of social and labor relations. The most important among them are: 1) labor itself as a basic social process; 2) integrative processes (education, functioning and development of labor collectives, stimulation of labor activity); 3) value - orientation processes associated with the formation of interests, values, social norms among various groups of workers; 4) processes of social mobility (labor movements of social groups and individual workers).
The main categories in the sociology of labor are: conditions, organization, types, content and nature of labor, attitudes towards it, job satisfaction, the socio-psychological climate of the team, and the like. Studying these and other categories, it is necessary to take into account that the natural need for society lies not in the action itself "just to work", but in the consumer value of the labor process as a creator of social wealth and progress, a way to satisfy social and personal needs, the formation and improvement of each specific personality.
An important role in human activity is played by incentives and motives for labor activity. By incentives we mean meaningful urges caused by the action of objective factors. The incentives for labor are the stronger, the more the results of human activity will satisfy the totality of existing needs.
Studying the social essence of labor, industrial sociology (20-30s of the 20th century) considered social and labor relations to be an important object of analysis of labor activity. Thus, the famous American sociologist Frederick Herzberg singled out the three most important approaches to studying and regulating the production behavior of workers.
The first approach, called scientific management, was based on the theory developed at the beginning of the 20th century by the American engineer Fred Taylor. According to his theory, the efficiency of human labor increases with the introduction of a scientific organization of labor in production. Timing of work operations in order to save movements and simplify labor functions, piecework progressive-bonus wage system, bonus system (large bonuses received once or twice a year for achieving success), assembly lines caused a significant increase in interest in efficient work and an increase in its performance. The elements of the scientific organization of labor, developed by F. Taylor, are successfully applied in modern production.
Beginning of the second approach to regulation industrial relations put, the American scientist Elton Mayo, concluding that the decisive influence on the increase in output is exerted not by material and material, but by human, moral and psychological relations.
Mayo emphasizes, firstly, that a person is a social being, his behavior is formed and determined by group behavior; secondly, that a rigid hierarchy of subordination and bureaucratic organization reduce labor and social activity, hinder the disclosure of creative human potential; third, leaders should focus more on people than on products. This is the guarantee of social stability and satisfaction of the individual with his work. This approach was called the management of human relations and formed the basis for the development of industrial sociology in the West.
Mainelementspublicproduction:materialandspiritualproduction
Labor is the eternal, natural and main condition of human life, its alpha and omega. In a broad sense, the words labor are understood not only as the activity of people in the production of material goods, but also in the creation of spiritual values.
The primary basis of life is social production. Before engaging in science, art, politics and love, people must have a minimum means of subsistence: a roof over their heads, clothes, food. And therefore, if we want to touch the complex tangle of social relations, reveal economic ties, social processes and determine the direction, trends in their movement, we must first of all consider social production as the source of all prosperity.
Production is not the only factor that determines the wealth of countries and peoples. On the economic development influence Natural resources, climate, natural fertility of the earth, knowledge and experience accumulated by people, population size and other factors. However, society can obtain a certain result only if it uses the effect inherent in these factors in the production process. Production is understood as the process of man's influence on the objects and forces of nature and their adaptation to satisfy one or another of his needs. Three components interact in it: human labor power, objects of labor and means of labor.
Under the labor force is understood the totality of physical and spiritual abilities that the body possesses and which are realized in the course of the labor process. As social production develops, the nature and content of the labor force change. In the early stages of the development of society, the main role was played by the physical abilities of a person to work. With the development of production, especially in the conditions of the modern scientific and technological revolution, ever higher demands are placed on the mental abilities of a person, on his intellectual level, scientific and technical education, qualifications and other qualities.
Social production is, first of all, the production of man. But this does not mean at all that social production is the sum of productions, which include the production of man. The whole system of social production in its unity constituent parts(material, spiritual and social) is subordinated to the production of man.
Material production forms the basis of social production, because without the production of material conditions and means of life, the very life activity of people is impossible. But apart from material production, social also includes spiritual production, production of consumption, production of people and production of the entire system of social relations, which in their totality constitute the social "fabric" of society. They serve the production and reproduction of man as the top in this peculiar hierarchy.
Conclusion
Thus, labor is the most important condition for the life of both an individual and society as a whole, any organization, enterprise.
The transition to market relations in our country has changed a lot in the social organization of labor. As experience shows, the main thing in such changes is a change in the priority of interests and incentives to work. Market relations imply a hierarchy of priority of such interests: personal interests are the most important. If they are realized, then the collective interests will be realized accordingly.
The recognition of personal interests as the most important in modern conditions is the recognition of the importance and significance of the problems of motivating labor activity, stimulating labor, as well as the need to improve the status of an employee in the system of social and labor relations.
Therefore, labor is a social phenomenon. In the process of labor, a certain system of social and labor relations is formed, which are the core of social relations at any level ( National economy, region, enterprise, individuals).
Listusedliterature
1. Dikareva A.N., Mirskaya M.I. Sociology of labor. - M., Higher School, 1989.
2. Dryakhlov N.I. Sociology of labor. - M., Moscow University Press, 1995.
3.Small Soviet Encyclopedia. Third edition. Volume 9. -M.: 1960
4. Shcherbina V.V. Sociology of labor. - M., Moscow University Publishing House, 1993.
5. Shcherbina V.V. Sociology of labor. - M., Moscow University Publishing House, 1993.
6.O.V. Romashov, Sociology of labor. - M.: "Gardariki", 1999
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Labor is one of the four main factors of production: a conscious, generally recognized human activity that requires the application of efforts, the implementation of work. Labor is a fundamental anthropological category.
Thus, in classical Hinduism, the correct performance of one's caste duty, or dharma, was the main religious duty of the individual. In other cultures, work is less directly linked to religion, but everywhere the concept of work is seen as an intrinsic part of human life. The characteristic of work in modern society is combined with a special development in the sphere of values. Thus, M. Weber in his work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" showed what happens to the religious concept of "vocation" at the beginning of the modernist era. In Catholicism, the concept of "vocation" refers to the occupations to which the individual is supposed to be called by God. Compared to them, other types of work were "profane", i.e., of lesser moral value. In the Protestant interpretation, any legitimate occupation is a vocation. This fundamental seriousness in the perception of work is still relevant. The connection of ideological development with the understanding of work in modern society is paradoxical: while the industrial revolution makes it increasingly difficult to clearly define the meaning of work, leads to the fragmentation of work, there is a deeply rooted notion that work is the basis of identification and moral dignity of the individual.
FROM economic and social point of view Labor is any socially useful activity of a person, with physiological- This is a neuromuscular process that occurs due to the accumulation of potential energy in the body. Consequently, labor is considered as a process taking place between man and nature, in which man, through his activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature. Thus, the limitation of the concept of labor is that only human activity is called labor. The second limitation is related to the concept of social utility, it is very conditional: criminal activity is not labor. it sociological aspect of the concept of labor.
AT psychophysiological aspect of the labor process there is an expedient, productive expenditure of man's physical and nervous energy. With this approach, each type of work is characterized by:
Academician S. G. Strumilin, who applied as early as 1921 an analytical assessment of labor according to various factors (creativity in labor, the attractiveness of labor, the nature of physiological functions, responsibility), believed that in labor activity a person performs three main functions: energy, managerial and performing.
Labor is the expedient activity of people aimed at the creation of material and cultural values. Labor is the basis and an indispensable condition for the life of people. By influencing the environment, changing and adapting it to their needs, people not only ensure their existence, but also create conditions for the development and progress of society.
Labor and work are not equivalent, not identical concepts. Labor is a social phenomenon, it is inherent only to man. Just as a person's life is impossible outside of society, so there can be no labor without a person and outside of society. Work- a physical concept, it can be performed by a person, an animal, and a machine. Labor is measured by working time, work - by kilograms, pieces. Most often in the literature recent years labor is understood to mean any mental and physical effort undertaken in part or in whole with the aim of achieving some result, not counting the satisfaction derived directly from the work done itself.
To objects of labor include: land and its subsoil, flora and fauna, raw materials and materials, semi-finished products and components, objects of production and non-production works and services, energy, material and information flows.
Mandatory elements of labor are the labor force and the means of production.
Work force is a set of physical and spiritual abilities of a person that are used by him in the process of work. The labor force is the main, main productive force of society. Means of production consist of objects of labor and means of labor. Objects of labor- these are products of nature, which in the process of labor undergo one or another change and turn into consumer values. If the objects of labor form the material basis of the product, then they are called basic materials, and if they contribute to the labor process itself or give the basic material new properties, then they are called auxiliary materials. The objects of labor in a broad sense include everything that is sought, mined, processed, formed, i.e. material resources, scientific knowledge.
Means of labor- these are the tools of production, with the help of which a person acts on the objects of labor and modifies them. Tools of labor include tools and workplace. On the labor efficiency is influenced by the totality of properties and parameters of the means of labor, properly adapted to a person or a team as a subject of labor. In the event of a discrepancy between the psychophysiological characteristics of a person and the parameters of the means of labor, the safe mode of operation is violated, and the worker's fatigue increases. The parameters of labor tools depend on the achievements of scientific and technological progress, the financial capabilities of the enterprise to purchase new products, as well as on its investment activity.
The most general scheme of the structural components of labor can be reflected as follows (Fig. 2.1).
Alienation of labor- is the relationship between the subject of labor and any social function labor, emerging as a result of a break in their original unity, leading to the impoverishment of the nature of the subject of labor and the rebirth of an alienated function, as well as the process of breaking this unity.
Rice. 2.1.
Many concepts of the alienation of labor are to some extent connected with the development of this concept by K. Marx. Alienation generated by industrialization was also one of the main topics of research by E. Durkheim, who developed the concept of anomie, reflecting the growth of individualism and disintegration. M. Weber emphasized the problem of alienation in the formalization of social organization, its bureaucratization. The theorists of the Frankfurt sociological school developed Weber's theory of rationalization; they considered the alienation of labor an attribute and companion of rationalization. During this period, the concept of alienation was significantly influenced by neo-Freudianism. E. Fromm wrote more about the alienation of labor in his work “To have or to be”. In modern concepts, the problem of overcoming the alienation of labor through creativity is considered, while earlier the emphasis was on overcoming alienation from the products of labor (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1
The ratio of instinctive activity, labor and creativity *
The ending
*Based on the book: Inozemtsev V. L. Outside economic society. Moscow: Academia; Nauka, 1998.640 p.
labor process is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The main forms of its manifestation are the costs of human energy, the interaction of the employee with the means of production (objects and means of labor) and the production interaction of workers with each other both horizontally (the ratio of participation in a single labor process) and vertically (the relationship between the leader and subordinate) . The role of labor in the development of man and society is manifested in the fact that in the process of labor not only material and spiritual values \u200b\u200bare created to meet the needs of people, but also the workers themselves develop, who acquire skills, reveal their abilities, replenish and enrich knowledge. The creative nature of labor finds its expression in the emergence of new ideas, progressive technologies, more advanced and highly productive tools of labor, new types of products, materials, energy, which in turn lead to the development of needs.
Thus, in the process of labor activity, not only goods are produced, services are provided, cultural values are created, but new needs appear with the desires for their subsequent satisfaction. The sociological aspect of the study is to consider labor as a system of social relations, to determine its impact on society.
Labor plays an exceptionally important role in the development of human society and each of its members. Thanks to the work of many thousands of generations of people, a huge potential of productive forces, colossal social wealth has been accumulated, modern civilization has been formed. Further progress of human society is impossible without the development of production and labor.
At all times, labor has been and remains the most important production factor, a type of human activity.
Activity- this is the internal (mental) and external (physical) activity of a person, regulated by a conscious goal.
Labor activity is the leading, main human activity. Since during life at any moment a person can be in one of two states - activity or inactivity, activity acts as an active process, and inactivity - as passive.
Thus, from an economic point of view, labor is a process of conscious, purposeful activity of people, with the help of which they modify the substance and forces of nature, adapting them to meet their needs.
The goals of labor activity may be production consumer goods and the services or facilities needed to produce them. The goals may be the production of energy, media, ideological products, as well as the operation of managerial and organizational technologies. At the same time, it does not matter whether the produced product is needed by a person to satisfy his own needs. The goals of labor activity are given to a person by society, therefore, by its nature, it is social: the needs of society form, determine, direct and regulate it.
In the process of labor, a person is affected by a large number of external production and non-production factors that affect his performance and health. The combination of these factors is called working conditions.
Under working conditions is understood as a set of elements of the production environment that affect the functional state of a person, his performance, health, all aspects of his development, and above all, the attitude to work and its efficiency. Working conditions are formed in the process of production and are determined by the type and level of equipment, technology and organization of production.
There are socio-economic and production conditions of work.
Socio-economic working conditions include everything that affects the level of preparation of an employee for participation in labor, the restoration of the labor force (the level of education and the possibility of obtaining it, the possibility of a good rest, living conditions). Working conditions- these are all elements of the working environment that affect the worker in the process of work, on his health and performance, attitude to work.
The subject of labor may be an individual employee or a team. Since the means of labor and objects of labor are created by man, he is the main component of labor as a system.
Therefore, labor is a social phenomenon. In the process of labor, a certain system of social and labor relations is formed, which are the core of social relations at any level (national economy, region, enterprise, individuals). This is the social characteristic of work. But labor is based on both psychological and physiological processes, so the study of human activities and functions plays an important role in solving the problems of increasing its efficiency. From this follows another definition of the concept of "labor".
Labor is the process of spending the nervous (mental) and muscular (physical) energy of a person, as a result of which consumer values necessary for the life and development of society are created.
This characteristic of labor is closely related to its productivity. Reducing energy costs to perform a unit of work is identical to productivity growth and vice versa, and energy consumption depends on various production and personal factors.
In the concept of labor, various aspects are also distinguished:
Such a division is very conditional, since labor problems combine different aspects at the same time, appear in unity or are closely related.
Labor is an expedient activity of people aimed at creating material and cultural values. Labor is the basis and an indispensable condition for the life of people. By influencing the natural environment, changing and adapting it to their needs, people not only ensure their existence, but also create conditions for the development and progress of society.
Any labor process presupposes the existence of an object of labor, a means of labor and labor itself as an activity to give the object of labor the properties necessary for a person.
The objects of labor are all that labor is aimed at, which undergoes changes in order to acquire useful properties and thereby satisfy human needs.
The means of labor is what a person uses to influence the objects of labor. These include machines, mechanisms, tools, fixtures and other tools, as well as buildings and structures that create the necessary conditions for effective use these guns.
The means of production are a combination of means of labor and objects of labor.
Technology is a way of influencing the objects of labor, the procedure for using tools of labor.
As a result of the completion of the labor process, products of labor are formed - the substance of nature, objects or other objects that have the necessary properties and are adapted to human needs.
The labor process is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. The main forms of manifestation of labor are:
The cost of human energy. This is the psycho-physiological side of labor activity, expressed in the expenditure of energy from muscles, brain, nerves, and sense organs. A person's energy expenditures are determined by the severity of labor and the level of neuropsychological tension, they form such conditions as fatigue and weariness. Working capacity, human health and development depend on the level of human energy consumption.
Interaction of the worker with the means of production - objects and means of labor. This is the organizational and technological aspect of labor activity. It is determined by the level of technical equipment of labor, the degree of its mechanization and automation, the perfection of technology, the organization of the workplace, the qualifications of the worker, his experience, the techniques and methods of work used by him, etc. The organizational and technological parameters of the activity impose requirements on the special training of workers, on their qualification level.
· The production interaction of workers with each other both horizontally (the relationship of participation in a single labor process) and vertically (the relationship between the leader and subordinate) determines the organizational and economic side of labor activity. It depends on the level of division and cooperation of labor, on the form of labor organization - individual or collective, on the number of employees, on the organizational and legal form of the enterprise (institution).
The problems of labor activity are the object of study of many scientific disciplines: physiology and psychology of labor, labor statistics, labor law, etc.
Studying the problem of the development of society is impossible without studying the social essence of labor, attitudes towards it, since everything that is necessary for the life and development of people is created by labor. Labor is the basis for the functioning and development of any human society, a condition for the existence of people independent of any social forms, an eternal, natural necessity; without it, human life itself was not possible.
Labor is, first of all, a process that takes place between man and nature, a process in which man, through his own activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature. It should also be taken into account that a person, influencing nature, using and changing it in order to create use values necessary to satisfy his material and spiritual needs, not only creates material (food, clothing, housing) and spiritual benefits (art, literature, science ), but also changes its own nature. He develops his abilities and talents, develops the necessary social qualities in himself, forms himself as a person.
The role of labor in the development of man and society is manifested in the fact that in the process of labor not only material and spiritual values \u200b\u200bare created to meet the needs of people, but also the workers themselves develop, acquire new skills, reveal their abilities, replenish and enrich knowledge. The creative nature of labor finds its expression in the birth of new ideas, the emergence of progressive technologies, more advanced and highly productive tools, new types of products, materials, energy, which, in turn, lead to the development of needs.
Thus, the consequence of labor activity is, on the one hand, the saturation of the market with goods, services, cultural values, on the other hand, the progress of production, the emergence of new needs and their subsequent satisfaction.
The development and improvement of production has a beneficial effect on the reproduction of the population, raising its material and cultural level.
It should be borne in mind that such processes are strongly influenced by politics, interstate and interethnic relations. In the world, not everything is as safe as it looks in the diagram. But, nevertheless, the general trend in the development of human society is directed towards the progress of production, the growth of material well-being and the cultural level of people, the awareness of human rights as the highest value on earth.
The labor process and the associated socio-economic results of activity are not limited to their own sphere of production and services. The economics and sociology of labor begin with the problem of the formation of the labor force and its supply on the labor market.
TOPIC 1. Labor as the basis for the development of society and an important factor of production
1 Subject and tasks of the discipline
2 The concept of labor and its socio-economic role in society
4. Incentives and incentives to work
1. Subject and tasks of the discipline. In modern economic conditions, the study of the problems of labor economics is based on completely new ideas about the functioning and efficiency of labor, the formation and regulation of labor potential, as well as on the analysis of real economic and social processes taking place in the labor sphere.
Labor economics helps to understand very complex issues:
- How will the supply and demand for labor be carried out in the conditions of market conditions?
- How should labor be organized in society and at a particular enterprise (organization) so that the entrepreneur receives the greatest effect (profit), and society as a whole the gross national product?
- How should wages be structured in order to create conditions for increasing its productivity and labor efficiency, as well as raising the level and quality of life of the population?
– How to neutralize unemployment and form a reliable system of social guarantees and social protection of the population in the conditions of inflation and hyperinflation?
How to manage labor resources in order to increase the efficiency of the use of labor potential in society?
Knowledge in the field of labor economics is not only theoretical, but also practical, since it is necessary in the training of highly qualified specialists in the field of management, management, scientific and practical workers, adapted to the labor market, regardless of the scope of their future professional activity.
labor economics- This is a branch of economic science that studies the patterns and methods of rational formation, use and development of a person, organizing and stimulating the effective labor activity of workers in order to maximize the satisfaction of their material and spiritual needs.
Labor economics is closely interconnected with such disciplines about labor as: physiology and sociology of labor, occupational health, labor statistics, demography, regulation and organization of labor, scientific organization of labor, personnel management, life safety, labor psychology, labor resources management, political economy, economics of education , ergonomics, labor law, etc.
Constant interaction in the labor system of individuals or groups in certain social and labor conditions give rise to social and labor relations.
social relations- this is a system of relations between individuals, social groups that take an unequal part in the economic, political and spiritual life of society, have differences in social status, way of life, sources and levels of income.
Labor Relations is a natural component of production relations in the labor system. They arise between participants in the labor process on the basis of the division and cooperation of labor due to the need to exchange activities and their products in order to achieve the final production goal.
Subject "Labor Economics". Labor economics as a science forms the laws and principles of social ordering of labor in order to achieve its high efficiency . That's why subject " labor economics » are the economic patterns of building and implementing labor processes, the conditions for increasing their efficiency and the economic relations of people that arise regarding the formation and use of labor resources both in the country as a whole and in enterprises, organizations, institutions.
Tasks of "Labor Economics". The main task of science is to study the mechanism of action of market economic laws on the formation and use of labor resources at the macro and micro levels and the determination of ways to ensure high labor productivity, growth of national income, and improvement of the quality of life of the population.
The next problem solved by this science is economic- its meaning is to ensure the growth of labor productivity, increase the shift and seasonal output of workers, increase the volume of production, improve its quality, create conditions for the rational use of technology, material and labor resources.
Psychophysiological task"Economics of labor" consists in preserving the health and working capacity of a person, improving and facilitating working conditions. This task is solved on the basis of the achievements of such sciences as psychology, labor physiology, industrial sanitation, hygiene, ergonomics, industrial aesthetics, etc.
social task science is aimed at creating the necessary conditions conducive to the constant growth of the cultural and technical level of workers, their comprehensive and harmonious development.
The most pressing problems of the "Economics of Labor" include:
Improving social and labor relations on the basis of social partnership;
Forecasting the labor market and features of its formation in Ukraine;
Study of the impact of privatization processes on employment and living standards of the population;
Study of the effectiveness of investments in human capital at the personal, micro- and macroeconomic levels;
Development of effective systems for assessing the labor contribution and remuneration;
Search for optimal ways to reproduce the country's human resources potential;
Improving the motivational and incentive mechanism for remuneration;
Social protection of the population.
2. The concept of labor and its socio-economic role in society . The concept of "labor" cannot be considered in a simplified way, since it includes not only economic, but also physiological, social and sociological components.
A) From an economic point of view Labor is any socially useful human activity.
B) From a physiological point of view labor activity is a neuromuscular process due to the accumulation of potential energy in the body.
“Labor is primarily a process that takes place between man and nature, a process in which man, through his activity, mediates, regulates and controls the metabolism between himself and nature”(K. Marx, Capital, vol. 20., p. 286).
From the above definitions it follows that labor is an activity. However, the concept of "activity" is much broader than the concept of "labor", so it has to be limited.
With equal right, we can talk about the activities of both man and the natural forces of nature (the destructive activity of sea surfs, winds), and technology (a conveyor that performs mechanical work, a machine tool), and animals (a horse, elephant, monkey, who also work).
But the word "work" in relation to figures of this kind is completely inapplicable, it is possible to say that they "work" only in a poetic metaphor.
Only about a person it is equally legitimate to say that he works and that he works. this implies first constraint: labor we call only human activity.
But human activity is also a very broad concept: it can include the work of Raphael, Michelangelo, Newton, Edison, and the fruitless scooping of water with a sieve by the fabulous Ivan the Fool .. Therefore, we call labor only socially useful human activity - this second constraint. The meaning of this limitation is rather conditional: one and the same engraver, using the same techniques, can produce both full-fledged paper signs and counterfeit credit cards. In the first case, it will be labor, since it is work useful to society; in the second, it will be criminal activity that is harmful to society.
It should be noted that in different epochs society evaluates certain types of human activity differently. Once upon a time, various fortune-telling, removal of damage and the evil eye, prostitution, speculation were considered useful for society and even a charitable deed. In Soviet times, these phenomena were condemned and even punished by law. In modern conditions, in a number of cases, such activities are recognized as a labor industry, legalized as a kind of business, although they are despised by the public.
AT) These examples emphasize that the definition of labor contains sociological moment: recognition by society of the usefulness of the activity that we call labor.
Determining the goals, methods and results of work, entrepreneur (commodity producer) solves three main questions :
1) what products, in what quantity and when should be produced? (Labor as a conscious activity);
2) how to produce these products, from what resources, with the help of what technology? (Labor as an expedient, rational activity);
3) For whom should these products be produced? (Labor as a socially useful activity).
Any labor process consists of the following elements : 1) objects of labor, 2) means of labor, 3) production technology, 4) organization of labor, 5) labor itself, as a process of conscious influence on the object of labor in order to manufacture products of labor or provide services.
In general, the labor process can be represented as a person performing four basic labor functions:
1)logical- determination of the goal and preparation of the labor process (familiarization with the conditions, technology, understanding and planning of work, preparation of means of production for use);
2)performance- bringing the means of production into action by applying physical force or controlling the means of production and natural processes turned into industrial ones;
3)registration and control- monitoring the technological process, changes in the external environment, the progress of the production program;
4)regulation– correction of deviations from the given program and changes in the external environment.
In this way, labor is a purposeful, conscious, organized activity of people aimed at creating material and spiritual benefits necessary to meet the social and personal needs of people.
F. Engels - labor created man. In other words, a person is obliged to work in the distribution of functions between hands and feet, in the development of the organs of speech, in the consistent transformation of the brain of an animal into a human brain, after which the actions of a person became conscious.
Throughout their lives, people learn ways to interact with nature, find more advanced forms of organizing production, and try to get a greater effect from their activities. At the same time, people themselves are constantly improving, increasing knowledge, experience, production skills. The dialectic of this process is as follows: first, people modify and improve the tools of labor, and then they change and improve themselves.
The process of human development consists in the continuous renewal and improvement of the tools of labor and the people themselves. Each generation passes on to the next a full stock of knowledge and production experience. This new generation, in turn, acquires new knowledge and experience and passes them on to the next generation. All this happens in an ascending line.
The development of objects and tools of labor is only a necessary condition for the implementation of the labor process itself, but the decisive element of this process is the person himself.
Thus, labor is the basis of life and activity not only of an individual, but of society as a whole.
The nature of labor expresses the form of its social organization, something special that is inherent in social labor in every socio-economic formation (capitalism, socialism, communism). The modern economic reform brings all participants in society into market relations, radically changes production relations. The nature of work is influenced, first of all, the change of forms of ownership, the attitude of workers to the means of production, the rejection of the systematic attraction and distribution of labor resources in the country, the transition to free enterprise based on various organizational and legal forms of ownership and on the free employment of labor through supply and demand in the market labor.
