modified:: 2023-10-18, 2335
up:: Division of Labour
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Forced Division of Labour

Overview

When Division of Labour is based on some pre-existing tradition.

• Holding onto the obsolete traditions/Moral Facts of the dying Segmentary Society.
  • i.e., Using Caste, Bloodline, Nobility to assign who can be engineers or politicians.
  • See #Quotes#Resolution.
• Not necessarily that Caste is encoded in law, can be social norms that hinder social mobility.
  • See #Quotes#Curse of Castes.
• The solution is "meritocracy".
  • See #Quotes#Resolution.
  • Solution isn't to revive old traditions now widely regarded as unfair.
  • Note, Meritocracy as a term wasn't coined in Durkheim's time, so he only alludes to the concept.

Quotes

Curse of Castes

"When the caste regime has disappeared by law, it survives in morality. Thanks to the persistence of certain prejudices, a certain favouritism is attached to some individuals, and the converse, unrelated to their merits, obtains for others." (Durkheim, 1893 pg 313)

Resolution

"It requires us only to be charitable and just towards our fellow-men, to fulfil our task well, to work towards a state where everyone is called to fulfil the function he performs best and will receive a just reward for his efforts." (Durkheim, 1893, pg 338)

"the remedy for the ill is nevertheless not to seek to revive traditions and practices that no longer correspond to present-day social conditions" (Durkheim, 1893, pg 339)

My Thoughts

• Meritocracy is the ideal that one deserves the product of their effort and talents.
  • In lieu of infinite resources, its an okay principle.
• However, the talent one has is a matter of not only Nature but Nurture.
  • In Nature, not all talents can be surmounted by just effort.
    • It is unfair I wasn't born with that athlete's genes…
  • In Nurture, Socio-Economic Mobility may be lacking, hindering development of talent.
    • Generational Wealth
    • Castes
    • Or even Generational Wealth associated with Castes
• The ideal of Meritocracy should be one where everyone is given equal opportunity to exert effort to develop their talents.
  • Free (optional) tuition for everyone.
  • Socio-mobility between schools instead of depending on one-shot major exams.
• Downsides:
  • Makes the Rat Race EVEN WORSE.
  • Too much mobility = no time to form bonds.
• At the very least, school lines should not be solely divided by talent to prevent caste formation.
  • However, the downsides of uniform education are also quite bad.
  • Only solution is truly personalized education.
• Is there any practical alternative?

See Also