The dignity of labour or the dignity of work is the philosophical holding that all types of jobs are respected equally, and no occupation is considered superior and none of the jobs should be discriminated on any basis. This view holds that all types of work (jobs) are necessary in a society and it is absolutely wrong to consider any work good or bad: the work itself is a dignity.
Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle has been cited as "the first to espouse the 'dignity of work'".[1] In Past and Present (1843), he wrote:
Labour is Life: from the inmost heart of the Worker rises his god-given Force, the sacred celestial Life-essence breathed into him by Almighty God; from his inmost heart awakens him to all nobleness,—to all knowledge, 'self-knowledge' and much else, so soon as Work fitly begins.[2]
Former U.S. President Joe Biden made restoring "the dignity of work" a central tenet of his 2020 campaign and administration.[3][4]
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Social reformers such as Basava and his contemporary Sharanas, as well as Mahatma Gandhi, were prominent advocates of the dignity of labour.[5]
The dignity of labour is one of the major themes in Christian ethics,[6] and as such, it is upheld by the Anglican Communion,[7] in Catholic social teaching, in Methodist principles,[8] and in Reformed theology.[9]
In Roman Catholicism, usually titled "The dignity of work and the rights of workers" the affirmation of the dignity of human labour is found in several papal encyclicals, most notably Pope John Paul II's Laborem Exercens, published 15 September 1981.[10]
In his 2021 book The Tyranny of Merit, philosopher Michael Sandel says that a spiritual revolution that celebrates the dignity of labour rather than meritocracy is the way to rectify the loss of faith in institutions evidenced in populism.[11]
See also
References
- ↑ 'Labor is Life' or 'Workers of the world, unite'? Future of capitalism lies in the middle, Rowland, Tim. Herald-Mail Media. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
- ↑ The Project Gutenberg eBook of Collected Works, Volume XIII. Past and Present, by Thomas Carlyle.. www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
- ↑ Remarks by President Biden Celebrating Labor Day and the Dignity of American Workers, House, The White. The White House(2022-09-05). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ↑ Remarks of President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address as Prepared for Delivery, House, The White. The White House(2023-02-08). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ↑ Dignity of labour, Suryanarayanan, A. N.. The Deccan Herald(2009).
- ↑ Christian Ethics{{#if:Osborn|, Osborn}. Oxford University Press(1940)
- ↑ An Anglican Catechism{{#if:Norman|, Norman}. A&C Black(1 May 2003). ISBN 9780826467003
- ↑ The Rise and Fall of the South African Peasantry{{#if:Bundy|, Bundy}. University of California Press(1979). ISBN 9780520037540
- ↑ Reformation and Society in Guernsey{{#if:Ogier|, Ogier}. Boydell & Brewer(1996). ISBN 9780851156033
- ↑ The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- ↑ The tyranny of merit: what's become of the common good?{{#if:Sandel|, Sandel}. Penguin Books(2021). ISBN 978-0-14-199117-7
Further reading
- Books
- Dignity at Work{{#if:Hodson|, Hodson}. Cambridge University Press(2001). ISBN 978-0-521-77812-1
- The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration{{#if:Lamont|, Lamont}. Harvard University Press(2009). ISBN 978-0-674-03988-9
- Collapse of Dignity: The Story of a Mining Tragedy and the Fight Against Greed and Corruption in Mexico{{#if:Gomez|, Gomez}. BenBella Books(2013). ISBN 978-1-939529-26-8
- Dignity in the Workplace: New Theoretical Perspectives{{#if:Bal|, Bal}. Springer(2017). ISBN 978-3-319-55245-3
- Fighting for Dignity: Migrant Lives at Israel's Margins{{#if:Willen|, Willen}. University of Pennsylvania Press(2019). ISBN 978-0-8122-5134-0
- Journals
- Dignity of Labour. Chambers's Edinburgh Journal({Template:Date).
- The Rights and Dignity of Labour. The Dublin Review({Template:Date).
- The Struggle to be a Part: Story of Dignity of Indian Labour. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics({Template:Date).
- On the new dignity of labour. Ephemera Journal({Template:Date).
- Kenneth Kaunda : the dignity of labour. African Yearbook of Rhetoric({Template:Date).
- Dignity of Labour. ANU Press(2019).
- Articles
- The Dignity of Labor. Scientific American(2 July 1853).
- The Dignity of Labour. Good Words({Template:Date).
- Valuing the dignity of work, Somavia, Juan. Human Development Reports UNDP(31 March 2015).
- The Dignity of Labor, Jones, William P.. Dissent Magazine(Summer 2020).