Work is the effort made by human beings in order to produce wealth. From a theoretical point of view, this topic has been approached from different angles, whether economic, social or historical, mainly because of its relevant scope in the development of humanity.
In the beginning of history, and for thousands of years, work was performed primarily by slave labor, owned by an owner who had the right to enjoy or use the goods produced. Thus, the slave was treated as one more commodity, with the possibility of being sold or bought. This situation is verifiable from the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire and the slave trade carried out during the conquest of America. This particular state of work ended in the nineteenth century (at least in a permissible way).
Previously, during the Middle Ages, the feudal regime had developed, where slavery was excluded. In this case, the work was called servitude, the servants being free men, since although they had limits in their work, their people were not the property of another. Basically, in this period and during this form of social organization, the worker (serf) made a contract with a feudal lord in which he promised to work in exchange for protection. It is the most similar precedent to the modality of what today we call work.
An important aspect regarding work is the definition between "manual" and "intellectual". What does this mean? Manual work is that which has been developed since the beginning of the human being as a person authorized to carry out “work of force”, and here are included from the slaves to the men who worked with the first steam engines, in the times of the Revolution. English industrialist. However, this type of work is not a thing of the past, since it continues today. Take, for example, metalworkers or mechanics.
But during the post-war period, a new form of work began to develop: the “intellectual”, with the appearance of “white-collar” workers, as those who exercised these types of jobs were called. And this was thanks to the notion of "surplus value" also incorporated at this time, which is what we know as "added value": it is the development of science and technology that improves and optimizes manufactured goods. In addition to goods, also at this time the idea of "services" begins to take effect, which are all "intangible" goods (that we cannot touch) that we can acquire: tourist packages, life insurance or the hiring of a specialist for me to fix the PC.
Currently, the work is done in exchange for a salary. Thus, the worker sells his labor power in the market and receives remuneration for it. The employer, for its part, hires personnel in order to receive a profit. The interests of the workers are protected by the unions, which collectively bargain wages according to each particular sector. In addition to this protection, workers are protected by the set of labor laws. In this sense, the changes produced during The Walfare State, or what became known as The Welfare State, are remarkable. During the 1930s and 1970s, the State was highly intervenor, balancing the differences of interests between the capitalists (the market) and the workers (wage earners). In this period, workers achieved great achievements to improve their working conditions, such as paid vacations, fixed hours, days off to enjoy family and leisure.
The neoliberal policies established between the '80s and' 90s minimize some of these conquests of labor benefits, such as, for example, labor flexibility: through this policy, the State benefits the capitalists, being able to disengage a worker from his or her company, paying a lower compensation than those that were previously granted at the time of cutting off the employment contract.
Lack of work or unemployment is one of the social and economic ills that states must combat. From an economic point of view, it means a way of neglecting valuable resources, and from a social point of view, it leads to situations of poverty and destitution.
Work is enshrined by the United Nations as a Human Right, by which every person (that is, every inhabitant of this planet) is free to choose a job, to enjoy good working conditions, and of course, everything is abolished. type of slavery or servitude.
