Social Organisation of Work — Slave, Feudal & Industrial Capitalist Societies
This module explains how work is socially organised across major historical formations—slave, feudal, and industrial capitalist—using lenses from Marx (relations of production, exploitation, alienation), Weber (authority, status, rationalisation), Durkheim (division of labour, solidarity, anomie), Polanyi (embedded vs disembedded economy), and Bloch (feudal society). Indian and global illustrations are noted for UPSC answers.
1) Conceptual Introduction: Work & Economic Life
Work is purposive, socially organised activity that transforms nature into use/exchange values; labour refers to human effort (physical/cognitive/emotional) deployed under specific social relations; economy denotes institutions that organise production, distribution, and consumption.
| Concept | Analytical Focus | Key Thinkers | UPSC Hook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relations of Production | Ownership/control over means of production; class relations | Marx | Who owns? Who works? Who appropriates surplus? |
| Division of Labour | Task specialisation; social integration/dysfunction | Durkheim | Mechanical vs organic solidarity; anomie risk |
| Authority & Rationalisation | Types of domination; formal rules & efficiency | Weber | Traditional/charismatic vs legal-rational/bureaucratic |
| Embeddedness | Economy within social norms vs market disembedding | Polanyi | Pre-capitalist reciprocity/redistribution vs market society |
| Labour Process | Control, skill, technology, resistance | Braverman, Burawoy | From craft to Taylorism to platform work |
Horizontal Flow — From “Embedded” Work to “Marketised” Work
Customary Work
status ties, duty
status ties, duty
Guilds/Manors
corporate/community control
corporate/community control
Proto-Industry
putting-out, merchant capital
putting-out, merchant capital
Factories
wage labour, contracts
wage labour, contracts
Disembedded Markets
labour as commodity
labour as commodity
Exam tip: Start answers with these organising lenses, then apply to each society’s ownership–control–coercion–compensation–solidarity pattern.
2) Slave Society
In slave societies, persons are legally property; work is extracted via direct coercion. Production spans domestic service to large estates (plantations). The labourer’s lack of juridical personhood shapes every aspect of work.
2.1 Thinkers & Analytical Lenses
- Aristotle: naturalises slavery for some as “natural slaves” (widely critiqued today) — reveals ideological justifications of domination.
- Marx: slave mode—surplus appropriation via extra-economic coercion; limited internal dynamism; expansion via conquest.
- Weber: domination is traditional/patrimonial; slaves as status group with legal disability; economy embedded in status/kinship.
- Polanyi: economy embedded in institutions of kinship, polity, religion; markets secondary; labour not a “fictitious commodity.”
| Dimension | Slave Society Pattern | UPSC Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Persons owned; no labour contract | Ancient Rome; New World plantations |
| Control/Coercion | Direct physical/legal coercion; overseers | Plantation discipline |
| Skill/Technology | From skilled household production to field labour | Household crafts; estate agriculture |
| Solidarity | Enslaved kin/community ties persist informally | Religious/ethnic networks among enslaved |
| Change Driver | War, revolt, moral-legal reforms, economic shifts | Abolitionist movements; mechanisation |
Answer hook: Contrast extra-economic coercion (slavery) with customary dues (feudalism) and contractual wage (capitalism).
3) Feudal Society
Feudalism organises work through land-based ties between lord and vassal/serf. Labour is extracted as customary dues/corvée with mutual obligations; markets exist but are subordinate to status and lordship.
3.1 Thinkers & Analytical Lenses
- Marc Bloch: multi-layered lordship; personal bonds; manorial economy; custom regulates duties.
- Marx: feudal rent (labour, kind, money) → constraints on productive forces; transition via primitive accumulation.
- Weber: patrimonial authority; estates and status groups dominate; cities/guilds as counterweights.
- Durkheim: limited division of labour; mechanical solidarity in rural communities; guilds prefigure corporate regulation.
- Polanyi: economy deeply embedded; reciprocity/redistribution outweigh price mechanisms.
| Dimension | Feudal Pattern | UPSC Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Landed lordship; serfs bound to land | Manorial demesne + peasant strips |
| Control/Coercion | Customary dues, labour services, jurisdictional power | Corvée; lord’s court |
| Skill/Technology | Agro-craft mix; guild-regulated urban crafts | Guild apprenticeships, journeymen |
| Solidarity | Village gemeinschaft; craft brotherhoods | Feasts, fairs, parish life |
| Change Driver | Monetisation, towns, crises (plague), peasant revolts | Commutation of dues to money rent |
Horizontal Flow — From Feudal Duties to Market Relations
Customary Dues
Money Rents
Town–Guild Growth
Proto-Industry
Wage Labour
Answer hook: Feudalism is neither slavery’s absolute coercion nor capitalism’s contract—custom + jurisdiction organise work and dues.
4) Industrial Capitalist Society
Industrial capitalism re-organises work around wage labour, private ownership, and markets. Factories, bureaucracy, and scientific management transform control and skills; labour becomes a “fictitious commodity” (Polanyi) traded on markets.
4.1 Thinkers & Analytical Lenses
- Marx: capital–labour relation; surplus value via exploitation; alienation (from product, process, species-being, others); class struggle drives change.
- Durkheim: advanced division of labour → organic solidarity; risks of anomie if regulation/moral rules lag.
- Weber: rationalisation, bureaucracy, calculability; iron cage of formal rationality; Protestant ethic & asceticism support capitalist spirit.
- Polanyi: disembedding of economy; labour/land/money treated as commodities → double movement (market expansion vs social protection).
- Braverman: deskilling under Taylorism; management control of labour process; later contested by worker skill, unions, and technology.
| Dimension | Industrial Capitalist Pattern | UPSC Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Private capital; corporate property | Joint-stock firms; MNCs |
| Control/Coercion | Contractual; managerial control; surveillance/metrics | Taylorism; algorithmic management |
| Skill/Technology | Machine systems; deskill/reskill cycles | Assembly line → automation/platforms |
| Solidarity | Unions, professional associations; diverse workplace cultures | Collective bargaining; HR regimes |
| Change Driver | Technological waves; crises; state regulation; globalisation | Welfare state; NPM; gig work |
Vertical Flow — Labour in Capitalism (Marx + Polanyi + Durkheim)
Wage Contract
labour-power sold
labour-power sold
Labour Process Control
Taylorism/metrics
Taylorism/metrics
Alienation / Anomie
if moral/skill lag
if moral/skill lag
Counter-Moves
unions, law, welfare
unions, law, welfare
Re-embedding
social protections
social protections
India focus: Industrialisation coexists with large informal sector; labour codes, ESI/EPF, skill missions, and platform economy debates illustrate double movement (Polanyi) between markets and social protection.
5) Comparative Synthesis — Slave vs Feudal vs Industrial Capitalist
| Analytical Axis | Slave | Feudal | Industrial Capitalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Status of Worker | Property (no contract) | Serf bound to land; customary rights | Free legal person; wage contract |
| Extraction Mode | Direct coercion | Custom/dues; lord’s jurisdiction | Market contract + managerial control |
| Embedding of Economy | Highly embedded (status/politics) | Embedded (land/status/community) | Disembedded markets (Polanyi) |
| Authority Form (Weber) | Patrimonial/master | Patrimonial/estate + guild rules | Legal-rational; bureaucracy |
| Solidarity (Durkheim) | Enforced proximity; kin/ethnic bonds | Mechanical (village/guild) | Organic (functional interdependence) |
| Conflict/Change (Marx) | Revolt/abolition | Peasant struggles; monetisation | Class struggle; regulation; crises |
| Skill Regime | Household/craft + field | Craft guilds; agro skills | From craft → machine → digital |
Horizontal Flow — Long Transition of Work Relations
Slave
coercion
coercion
Feudal
custom
custom
Proto-Industry
merchant capital
merchant capital
Industrial Capitalism
wage
wage
Regulated/Hybrid
welfare, platforms
welfare, platforms
6) Answer-Writing Toolkit (UPSC)
- Define work & labour → state the society → apply 4 axes: ownership, control/coercion, compensation, solidarity.
- Thinker anchors: Slavery (Aristotle/Marx/Weber/Polanyi); Feudalism (Bloch/Marx/Weber/Durkheim/Polanyi); Capitalism (Marx/Durkheim/Weber/Polanyi/Braverman).
- Comparative line: extra-economic coercion → customary obligations → market contract; increasing rationalisation & functional interdependence (Weber/Durkheim).
- Indianise: coexistence of forms (agrarian bondage, informalisation, factory labour, gig work) = path-dependent hybrid economy.
- Close with policy (if asked): skill ecosystems, social security for informal/gig workers, labour law balance, collective bargaining, productivity with dignity.
UPSC Summary Pointers
- Slave: property status; direct coercion; embedded economy; change via revolt/reform.
- Feudal: land/status order; customary dues; guild regulation; towns/monetisation destabilise.
- Industrial Capitalist: wage contract; bureaucracy/Taylorism; alienation–anomie risks; double movement toward social protection.
