division of labour - Encyclopedia Britannica

division of labour, the separation of a work process into a number of tasks, with each task performed by a separate person or group of persons. divisionoflabour TableofContents divisionoflabour Introduction FastFacts RelatedContent Media Images More MoreArticlesOnThisTopic Contributors ArticleHistory Home Politics,Law&Government Banking&Business divisionoflabour Actions Cite verifiedCite Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadetofollowcitationstylerules,theremaybesomediscrepancies. Pleaserefertotheappropriatestylemanualorothersourcesifyouhaveanyquestions. SelectCitationStyle MLA APA ChicagoManualofStyle CopyCitation Share Share Sharetosocialmedia Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/division-of-labour GiveFeedback ExternalWebsites Feedback Corrections?Updates?Omissions?Letusknowifyouhavesuggestionstoimprovethisarticle(requireslogin). FeedbackType Selectatype(Required) FactualCorrection Spelling/GrammarCorrection LinkCorrection AdditionalInformation Other YourFeedback SubmitFeedback Thankyouforyourfeedback Oureditorswillreviewwhatyou’vesubmittedanddeterminewhethertorevisethearticle. JoinBritannica'sPublishingPartnerProgramandourcommunityofexpertstogainaglobalaudienceforyourwork! ExternalWebsites TheVictorianWeb-AdamSmithandtheDivisionofLabor Print Cite verifiedCite Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadetofollowcitationstylerules,theremaybesomediscrepancies. Pleaserefertotheappropriatestylemanualorothersourcesifyouhaveanyquestions. SelectCitationStyle MLA APA ChicagoManualofStyle CopyCitation Share Share Sharetosocialmedia Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/division-of-labour More GiveFeedback ExternalWebsites Feedback Corrections?Updates?Omissions?Letusknowifyouhavesuggestionstoimprovethisarticle(requireslogin). FeedbackType Selectatype(Required) FactualCorrection Spelling/GrammarCorrection LinkCorrection AdditionalInformation Other YourFeedback SubmitFeedback Thankyouforyourfeedback Oureditorswillreviewwhatyou’vesubmittedanddeterminewhethertorevisethearticle. JoinBritannica'sPublishingPartnerProgramandourcommunityofexpertstogainaglobalaudienceforyourwork! ExternalWebsites TheVictorianWeb-AdamSmithandtheDivisionofLabor By TheEditorsofEncyclopaediaBritannica • EditHistory TableofContents assemblyline:automobile Seeallmedia KeyPeople: ChristopherPolhem AdamSmith ÉmileDurkheim ...(Showmore) RelatedTopics: work specialization organicsolidarity ...(Showmore) Seeallrelatedcontent→ divisionoflabour,theseparationofaworkprocessintoanumberoftasks,witheachtaskperformedbyaseparatepersonorgroupofpersons.Itismostoftenappliedtosystemsofmassproductionandisoneofthebasicorganizingprinciplesoftheassemblyline.Breakingdownworkintosimplerepetitivetaskseliminatesunnecessarymotionandlimitsthehandlingofdifferenttoolsandparts.Theconsequentreductioninproductiontimeandtheabilitytoreplacecraftsmenwithlower-paidunskilledworkersresultinlowerproductioncostsandalessexpensivefinalproduct.Contrarytopopularbelief,however,divisionoflabourdoesnotnecessarilyleadtoadecreaseinskills—knownasproletarianization—amongtheworkingpopulation.TheScottisheconomistAdamSmithsawthissplittingoftasksasakeytoeconomicprogressbyprovidingacheaperandmoreefficientmeansofproducinggoods.TheFrenchscholarÉmileDurkheimfirstusedthephrasedivisionoflabourinasociologicalsenseinhisdiscussionofsocialevolution.Ratherthanviewingdivisionoflabourasaconsequenceofadesireformaterialabundance,Durkheimstatedthatspecializationarosefromchangesinsocialstructurecausedbyanassumednaturalincreaseinthesizeanddensityofpopulationandacorrespondingincreaseincompetitionforsurvival.Divisionoflabourfunctionedtokeepsocietiesfrombreakingapartundertheseconditions. ReadMoreonThisTopic historyoftheorganizationofwork:Prehistory …structure,andlinguisticcommunication,thedivisionoflabour(jobspecialization)mayhavebeenresponsibleforstarting... Theintensivespecializationinindustrialsocieties—therefinementandsimplificationoftasks(especiallyassociatedwithamachinetechnology)sothataworkeroftenproducesonlyasmallpartofaparticularcommodity—isnotusuallyfoundinnonindustrializedsocieties.Thereisrarelyadivisionoflabourwithinanindustryinnonliteratecommunities,exceptperhapsfortheproductionoflargergoods(suchashousesorcanoes);inthesecasesthedivisionisoftenatemporaryone,andeachworkeriscompetenttoperformotherphasesofthetask.Theremaybesomespecializationintypesofproducts(e.g.,oneworkermayproducepotteryforreligioususes;another,potteryforordinaryuses),buteachworkerusuallyperformsallstepsoftheprocess.Adivisionoflabourbasedonsexappearstobeuniversal,buttheformthatthistakesvarieswidelyacrosscultures.Divisionsonthebasisofage,clanaffiliation,hereditaryposition,orguildmembership,aswellasregionalandcraftspecialization,arealsofound. ThisarticlewasmostrecentlyrevisedandupdatedbyAmyTikkanen.