A New Census and an Old Theory
Division of Labor in the Preliterate World
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2197148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter T Watson (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1929 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 632-652 |
| Publication date | 1929-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/214762 |
| OpenAlex | W2020472656 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
"Primitive communism" vs. "solitary hunter."-The ancient theory that division of labor is non-existent in the preliterate world is perpetuated in two mutually inconsistent forms: (1) The work of these peoples is done in common-the task of one is the task of all. (2) Primitive man is a non-co-operative "solitary hunter" carrying on life and labor independently of his fellows. Census method.-This theory is here tested by a labor census which classifies cases derived from published works concerning thirty tribes, division of labor being conceived, for purposes of the census, as occurring whenever any activity becomes a recognized function of a particular person, sex, or group of persons. Functional differentiation.-On the basis of degree or type of specialization, three distinct classes of activities emerge in the census: regular, incidental, occasional. Regular activities are, for the most part, daily, fulltime functions of those who engage in them, and correspond to the occupations of literate industrial society. Incidental activities occur in the course of a broader and more general set of activities or occupation. Occasional activities are performed at more or less irregular or unexpected intervals, or at stated periods widely separated in time. The appearance of these classes of activities under each of thirteen functional groupings (medicine, craftsmanship, etc.) assigns the theory above outlned to the fascinating library of academic mythology, and warrants an alternative formulation: (1) Division of labor is coextensive with preliterate social life. (2) Specialization by craft and occupation may be found in some form in every preliterate tribe. Differentiation within population classes.-The fact of division of labor receives wider significance in its relation to (1) sex, (2) age, (3) physical strength, (4) marital condition, etc. These factors cross-cut functional lines and are, in some sense, the results of the cultural assignment of functions in any given situation. There are, in fact, all sorts of social divisions of labor, and the unending complexity of these divisions must be viewed as coextensive with the infinite number of relationships, classifications, and stratified layers of preliterate social life, as well as with the manifold conceptions which individuals have of each other's abilities, capacities, and fitnesses for special duties
Archaeology · Biology · Census · Craft · Demographic economics · Division of labour · Economics · Function (biology) · Genealogy · Management · Political science · Population · Set (abstract data type) · Sociology · Task (project management) · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Byzantine Studies and History · Computer Science · Demography · History · Law · Linguistics and language evolution
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,05 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2003 (19) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |