Abstract
The Thought of Work makes a vital contribution to industrial relations by offering a fresh examination of the many meanings of work and by clearly illustrating how those different meanings shape our thoughts and actions. The book also shows that work is fundamental to the human experience and highlights work’s complex and textured nature. The volume stops short of tying the different meanings together by means of an integrative framework. But even without such a framework, which can be constructed by integrating The Thought of Work with John R. Commons’s Industrial Goodwill, Budd makes it clear that work is a fully human activity—not merely an economic, psychological, or social endeavor. Accordingly, The Thought of Work deserves a wide audience.
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Notes
Budd (p. 2) defines work as “purposeful human activity involving physical or mental exertion that is not undertaken solely for pleasure and that has economic or symbolic value.” As such, work can be paid or unpaid and can be done within or outside the home.
This is how Budd defines work as freedom: work is “a way to achieve independence from nature or other human beings and to express human creativity” (p. 14).
As with Commons, Budd recognizes there is often room for multiple interpretations of a given conception of work.
Regarding the observation that work shapes our lives, Budd notes that work influences meal and sleep patterns, the timing of recreation, and even the size and composition of households (p. 11).
According to Budd, “To see work as freedom is to define humans as compelled to master nature and create things. To embrace work as disutility is to specify human nature as rational, self-interested, atomistic, and largely materialistic. Emphasizing the personal fulfillment element of work casts humans as seeking inner satisfaction, while a perspective that recognizes work as service shifts our deepest intentions outward toward others and perhaps toward a higher spiritual purpose. And to see work as a social relation is to characterize human nature as fundamentally concerned with how we relate to others, and perhaps as driven to dominate others” (p. 181).
Budd argues that the notion of work as occupational citizenship is especially overlooked these days (despite having important religious and legal underpinnings). For that reason, the chapter on this conception may be the most important of his survey. According to Budd, when work is conceptualized as occupational citizenship, it is “not a commodity but an activity pursued by human members of a community with inherent equal worth who are entitled to certain rights and standards of dignity and self-determination” (p. 59).
For a related examination of that subject, see Whalen (2008), which includes a chapter by Budd.
References
Befort, S. F., & Budd, J. W. (2009). Invisible hands, invisible objectives: bringing workplace law and public policy into focus. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Budd, J. W. (2004). Employment with a human face: balancing efficiency, equity and voice. Ithaca: ILR Press.
Budd, J. W. (2011). The thought of work. Ithaca: ILR Press.
Commons, J. R. (1919). Industrial goodwill. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Whalen, C. J. (Ed.). (2008). New directions in the study of work and employment: revitalizing industrial relations as an academic enterprise. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.
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The author is principal analyst, Macroeconomic Analysis Division, Congressional Budget Office. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and should not be interpreted as those of the Congressional Budget Office.
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Whalen, C.J. The Thought of Work: A Review. Employ Respons Rights J 24, 295–298 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-012-9205-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-012-9205-7