GS WA2

agricultural era in general

• agriculture produce surplus food and led to people settling down instead of travelling around as nomads

• Corvée labour, where people have unpaid obligations to rulers. this social hierarchy stems from the ownership of land

• rise of the artisans and craftspeople

medieval working conditions

• increased craft specialisation and combined it with working at home. the emergence of guilds led to the regulation of craft standards and training

• labour is tied to land (feudal obligations)

• apprenticeship system, where masters transfer their skills to their apprentices

industrial revolution working conditions

• Use of cheap fossil fuels and the factory systems allowed for mass production, which greatly increased output and scale

• urbanisation, leading to urban crowding and poverty. working conditions are cramped and working hours are long. child labour was rampant as children’s hands are nimble.

• Traditional artisans are displaced because their output cannot compete with factories (with similar quality)

taylorism and fordism

• With the invention of assembly lines, speed and specialisation of factory production increases. workers can now each do simple tasks and a complex product will still be formed. tasks are optimised

• Mass wages with mass production, and increased safety. this era also introduced labour stability with work contracts and more unions formed

post-war working conditions

• reconstruction after the war prompted social protection in employment

• Regulations are reinforced with strong unions (bargaining power), social safety nets, and full employment policies put in place by governments

post-industrial automation

routine manual task are replaced by machines. manual labour in the secondary, primary sector decreases, while people move towards the service sector. this also led to increase in demand for advanced mental skills

with the formation of the EU, people in Europe can now travel freely throughout its borders, leading to great labour relocation, and multicultural workplaces. this could also lead to shortages in labour for less economical attractive places

gig economy

gig economy emerges (unstable wages but flexible schedule)

AI and work

replacement by AI. reskilling is require. governments should come up with policies that ensure progress with technology advancements while ensuring the economic, social welfare of the people. also consider the role of sustainability in jobs

how has work safety changed over the years?

industrial revolution: harsh manual labour, dangerous and unsafe working conditions + cramped working spaces + child labour (deaths and injuries are very prevalent)

Fordism: assembly lines allow workers to perform simple and repetitive tasks and prevent death or injury

post-war and modern era: automation and robots removed the need for physical labour. technological advancements created new professional and service-sector jobs with better working conditions compared to earlier industrial labour

China’s labour reforms

• tang dynasty

  • agrarian bureaucracy: Peasant family farming combined with state taxation and labour obligations

• industrial contracts

  • china’s surplus of cheap labour and free sea port is taken advantage of by westerners and company owners. they built factories on these ports to increase production, wth the products being shipped back to Europe

• post-civil war

  • the communist party won the civil war, leading to state-directed and centralised labour allocation. the war also mobilised labour resources (fighting a war consumes much resources and manpower)

• economic reforms

  • rated incomes, reduced extreme poverty for millions of workers despite restrictions on independent unions

  • (shows how labour systems re influences heavily by labour laws and government power)

• market socialism

  • several economic zones to attar uranium migration and boost industrialisation

europe’s industrial journey through the years

1. medieval guilds and artisans (regulated craft quality) → merchants (brought goods straight to people, increased commerce)

2. Industrial Revolution → Factory Acts (bargaining for improved working conditions, wages and reduced working hours) (regulated working conditions)

3. post-war Europe → strong labour unions in postwar Europe negotiated higher wages, healthcare benefits and job protections for workers

4. Scandinavian countries → Scandinavian countries such as Sweden developed strong union systems that negotiated fair wages and comprehensive welfare protections. This contributed to lower income inequality and higher living standards compared to societies with weaker labour movements.

difference between Europe labour and Chinese labour

Europe: Had a strong worker union presence, with which collective bargaining increased workers’ political influence, leading governments to adopt policies supporting public healthcare, unemployment benefits and safer working conditions

China: Power is more centralised towards the Communist Party, which controlled labour reforms and regulated working conditions. Trade unions were heavily regulated and restricted, and did not hold as much power

impact of economic reofrms

investments in education, better facilities, training made wages higher and conditions better

examples — pre-industrialisation jobs

1. medieval guilds in Europe and apprenticeships

2. china’s agricultural bureaucracy

   1. merchants pre-industrial revolution

migration

rural to urban

1. Shenzhen industrialisation

migration (cross-borders)

1. factory movement → nike supply chains in Vietnam and Bangladesh

2. workers movement: EU expansion

industrialisation and labour regulations

1. Europe industrial towns

2. china’s Great Leap Forward

3. Post-war Scandinavian states

industrialisation and foreign influences

china and first industrial contracts

industrialisation and technology

1. James Watt’s steam engines and textile mills in Manchester

2. AI and automation

economic progress and working conditions

shenzhena nd te govenrment’s policies to build a special economic zone in Shenzhen

what can collective bargaining do?

Workers can negotiate collectively and pressure employers through strikes and protests a sone worker body. Drove change through organised resistance. Individually, workers had little pose a giant wealthy factory owners, but together, their voice held power.

collective bargaining

1. British factory acts

2. post-war Europe

3. china’s reform era: organised strikes

technological improvements

1. Industrial Revolution and post-automation

what can technological improvements do? and what are its cons

Technology improved material conditions in the long run but also caused displacement and new forms of precarious work (e.g. gig economy). Its impact on workers depended heavily on who controlled it.

counter argument for technological development improving worker conditions

Advanced technology shifted work towards the service economy and gig economy, the latter notorious for its inconsistent earnings and unstable nature, making it a precarious branch of the workforce.

state and government

1. European working policies

2. Chinese working policies

3. Scandinavian countries policies

what can state and government do and not do

tate power produced the most sweeping and durable changes — laws applied to all workers, not just union members. But states often acted in response to worker pressure, not instead of it.State power produced the most sweeping and durable changes — laws applied to all workers, not just union members. But states often acted in response to worker pressure, not instead of it.

economic imporvmetn

1. china and economic reforms

2. shift from physical based to service based jobs (safer working conditions)

employers and capitalist

1. fordism

what can employers do

Employer-led improvements were real but driven by profit, not worker welfare. They were also selective and could be reversed without legal protection. Workers benefited, but as a means to an end.

reskilling due to technology

1. Industrial Revolution

2. robotics and technology

3. the gig economy

4. AI