Singapore is a cosmopolitan society. We embrace different races and religious beliefs. This sets us apart from many other countries. This is why we need to take into consideration of social theories such as by Karl Marx as well Emile Durkheim in order for us to better understand our own society and thereafter improve it to protect our strong social fabric. In this essay, I would discuss about the idea of division of labour brought forth by Marx and Durkheim. Karl Marx theorizes about division of labour and suggests how the specialization of skills has its banes, while Emile Durkheim also theorizes about division of labour and supports the idea of specialization and discusses its positive implications on society. However, I would like to highlight
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This creates a vicious cycle where people become alienated from their jobs, hence they find their jobs increasingly off-putting. “In proportion therefore, as the repulsiveness of the work increases, the wage decreases” (Karl Marx, 1848). Furthermore, as one becomes very specialized in a particular area and their skills in other fields become obsolete, one gets easily replaceable from their job by machines. Due to the easy replacement of what they are able to produce, the value of these specialized skills decrease in the eyes of the employers. There is then a greater demand for the labour but lower wage returns for the workers. This is evident in Singapore, where the reduced reliance on workers result in their skills becoming obsolete as technology advances, and machines take over. Hence we have an increasing number of sunset industries such as textile manufactory. Eventually, there is a reserve army of workers which corresponds to the current situation in Singapore of a tighter labour market yet higher unemployment rate. I feel that this is very applicable especially for the low skilled workers as well as senior workers due to the ageing population in Singapore. With lesser skills to offer the employers, it is ever-more difficult for them to match up to the increase in demand and expectations of their skills, which are now obsolete. Furthermore, with this …show more content…
There is no point in stopping division of labour, thus we should improve on limitations of an organic society. According to Durkheim, he identifies Marx’s belief of a society to be mechanical. Mechanical society builds on the belief that everyone is willing to share what they have. Everybody is given equal opportunities. As a matter of fact, it is never equal. People are self-driven. If we are in a mechanic solidarity, we will be a brittle society where it will shatter upon uncooperativeness of minority. “Collective life is not born from individual life, but it is, on the contrary, the second which is born from the first. It is on this condition alone that one can explain how the personal individuality of social units has been able to be formed and enlarged without disintegrating society” (Durkheim, 1858-1917). Therefore, Durkheim suggests organic solidarity instead which the case in Singapore largely is. We are co-dependant on one another for their products and services. This is what holds our society together, especially in Singapore, since we are a multi-racial and cosmopolitan community. In fact, the Sedition Act – an Act for the punishment of sedition. (Chambers, 2013), is one of the law
This creates a vicious cycle where people become alienated from their jobs, hence they find their jobs increasingly off-putting. “In proportion therefore, as the repulsiveness of the work increases, the wage decreases” (Karl Marx, 1848). Furthermore, as one becomes very specialized in a particular area and their skills in other fields become obsolete, one gets easily replaceable from their job by machines. Due to the easy replacement of what they are able to produce, the value of these specialized skills decrease in the eyes of the employers. There is then a greater demand for the labour but lower wage returns for the workers. This is evident in Singapore, where the reduced reliance on workers result in their skills becoming obsolete as technology advances, and machines take over. Hence we have an increasing number of sunset industries such as textile manufactory. Eventually, there is a reserve army of workers which corresponds to the current situation in Singapore of a tighter labour market yet higher unemployment rate. I feel that this is very applicable especially for the low skilled workers as well as senior workers due to the ageing population in Singapore. With lesser skills to offer the employers, it is ever-more difficult for them to match up to the increase in demand and expectations of their skills, which are now obsolete. Furthermore, with this …show more content…
There is no point in stopping division of labour, thus we should improve on limitations of an organic society. According to Durkheim, he identifies Marx’s belief of a society to be mechanical. Mechanical society builds on the belief that everyone is willing to share what they have. Everybody is given equal opportunities. As a matter of fact, it is never equal. People are self-driven. If we are in a mechanic solidarity, we will be a brittle society where it will shatter upon uncooperativeness of minority. “Collective life is not born from individual life, but it is, on the contrary, the second which is born from the first. It is on this condition alone that one can explain how the personal individuality of social units has been able to be formed and enlarged without disintegrating society” (Durkheim, 1858-1917). Therefore, Durkheim suggests organic solidarity instead which the case in Singapore largely is. We are co-dependant on one another for their products and services. This is what holds our society together, especially in Singapore, since we are a multi-racial and cosmopolitan community. In fact, the Sedition Act – an Act for the punishment of sedition. (Chambers, 2013), is one of the law