Social division of labor, one of the two aspects of the

division of labor The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (Departmentalization, specialisation). Individuals, organisations, and nations are endowed with or acquire specialis ...

, is the social structural foundation of the specialized commodity production divided between industries, firms, and

occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment * Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

of workers (otherwise known as the ''technical'' division of tasks). Before the emergence of centralized manufacturing, individuals specialized in the development of one product and traded it for finished products made by other individuals. While this relationship can describe specialized trades within a community, such as master sewers, blacksmiths, and farmers, it can also refer to the specializations of several networked communities. For example, one community might make clothes for the purpose of exchange, while another makes tools and a third produces food for the same purpose. Social division of labor greatly increases

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

, because individuals can work on whichever product provides them a

comparative advantage Comparative advantage in an economic model is the advantage over others in producing a particular Goods (economics), good. A good can be produced at a lower relative opportunity cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior t ...

, and then trade it to the individuals who cannot efficiently produce it. The social division of labor also creates

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

markets and

prices A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a phys ...

, which operate in part by comparing the cost and time required to make each product. This type of relationship can be socially and economically advantageous; however, too much specialization can also lead to major disadvantages. First, if a community specializes too heavily on a product, they can become dependent on the success of that product and will experience an economic disaster if the product is replaced (or becomes extinct). For example, if bananas go extinct or grow under bad seasonal conditions in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, the economy will suffer along with the whole community. A second disadvantage develops if all communities come to rely on a product developed by a single community, because that community would then have a monopoly on that product and would be able to withhold production for their own benefit. The third disadvantage is that individual workers, now specialized for particular occupational skillsets, may be vulnerable to economic reorganizations. These can be triggered by volatile 'product cycles' and the development of new industries, where representation in union constituencies is different from that of older, outsourced, or automated ones (for example, financial services vs. weaving).

Marxists Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...

argue that

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, and

modes of production Mode ( meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * MODE (magazine), MO''D''E (magazine), a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which i ...

in general, change through revolutions in the means of production, which result in populations of unemployed workers who are over-specialized in niche occupations and, as a result, are unable to reenter the labor force amid spiraling

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

. Marx, K. (1977). '' Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume One.'' Trans. Ben Fowkes. New York: Vintage Books, pp. 772, 781–94.

External links

Harry Braverman and the Working Class
from Roger State University

References

{{Reflist Labor history Marxist terminology