Thinkers and Thoughts of Work

In this section we will focus on the thinkers of work, sometimes found in our universities, colleges and other learning institutions. We will also examine some of the many major thematic's, discussion and debates that make up the subject of work. Lastly we will examine some of the different tools researchers have used to measure, quantify, and theorize work.

The study of work crosses a variety of the traditional academic disciplines and each one seems to have their own set of discourses, theories and empirical thought. Yet not one has been able to capture a holistic perspective of the totality of work. Sociologists have focused on the social impacts of work. Economists have derived the productive and labour market aspects of work. Business schools taken account of the human resource and micro-economics of work. The philosophers have thought out the existential planes of work. The psychologists have dissected the impacts of work on the individual. The scientists and engineers have built the machinery and technology of advancing worker productivity.

The most effective study of work is undoubtedly one that takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter. This of course possesses many challenges. The task is complicated by the necessary breaking down of institutional barriers, translating the discourses and navigating through the myriad of political boundaries of each traditional discipline.

There have been many thinkers who have had things to say about the subject of work. But only a few have been able to grasp hold of the many threads required to successfully unravel the gordian knot of work. Many of these used an interdisciplinary approach. Those that came out of the process undeniably held one over arching thematic to their work and it centered on the plight of the working classes. Below is a short list of these thinkers. Click on their name to find out more.