IMPORTANCE OF WORK AND OCCUPATION IN MODERN SOCIETY

• Man is not only a social animal but also an economic being, engaged in economic pursuits or activities.
• These economic activities are complex and multifaceted, forming what is known as an economy.
• The economy can be viewed as a sub-system within the wider social system.
• The economy can also be treated as a parent system, consisting of clusters of activities such as production, investment, innovation, etc., that form its sub-systems.
• More concrete structures, like a bank or corporation, can be analyzed in terms of the basic functional necessities of social systems.
• The term work has various definitions:
  1. Concise Oxford Dictionary: “Expenditure of energy, striving application of effort to some purpose”.
  2. Economists: “A major factor of production, consisting of manual or mental exertion for which wages, salaries, or professional fees are received”.
  3. Raymond Firth: “An income-producing activity” or “a purposeful activity entailing expenditure of energy at some sacrifice of pleasure or leisure”.
  4. R.B. Lal: “The fundamental law of creation; Labour is essential for the preservation of life”.
  5. Henri Aryon: “A muscular effort inducing fatigue and exhaustion” or “a spontaneous, conscious and deliberate effort”.
  6. Peter Worsely: “A specialized undertaking, clearly marked off from other activities in time and space”.
• A distinction is made between work and play, recreation, or art:
  • Work: Human activity directed to an external object with a practical purpose (e.g., making furniture, building a house).
  • Play and recreation: Activities that are not aimed at an external object and are more about enjoyment or personal engagement.
• Work is different from play or art because it is directed at achieving something external, while play and art are primarily for internal satisfaction.
• Play, recreation, and art can become work when they aim at external rewards like material or monetary benefits (e.g., household tasks, painting, playing music).
• Ideal working activities could be exercised as art or recreation, but this is not fully attainable as long as work is focused on achieving external goals.
• Work is civilisational, meaning it is a means to an end, while art and recreation are cultural, valued for their own sake.
• Work may be free or servile, whereas art and recreation are essentially free.
• Sociology of Work examines the social, economic, and psychological implications of work.