WORK IN MARX, WEBER AND DURKHEIM
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Work, in Durkheim's conception, is a social fact present in all types of societies. There are societies with a greater or lesser division of labor, but in all of them, differentiated functions are found among individuals, dividing them into distinct functional groups with distinct social behaviors. For him, the more specialized the work, the more bonds of dependence are formed. Thus, the more developed the division of labor, the greater the web of dependent relationships between individuals (a baker depends on a farmer, who depends on a blacksmith, and so on). This will consequently lead to greater social cohesion. In capitalist societies, work is conceived as a functional activity that must be performed by a specific group: the workers. Durkheim understands the social division between workers and employers as a functional division. The division between those who must perform the activity of organizing production and command (employers) and those who must perform productive activities (workers). This division, as an extension of the division of labor, promotes social cohesion and, therefore, must be socially preserved. However, this division presents problems that Durkheim sees as social ills that must be corrected for the social whole to develop adequately. If there are excesses on the part of capitalists or workers, their activities must be regulated to achieve balance and ensure the social integration of all parties involved.
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Max Weber takes a different perspective, and it is important to understand that the social division of labor is not his focus because, according to him, there is no generality common to all societies. Each society responds to unique historical situations, and work became a fundamental activity under capitalism due to specific conditions. In his book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1905), Weber observes that an encounter occurred that gave capitalism its distinctive character: the encounter between the capitalist "spirit," of ever-increasing profits, and a religious ethic founded on a disciplined life of self-control, with savings as a central characteristic. In this encounter between the capitalist mind and the Protestant ethic, work occupies a central place. For the practitioner of Protestantism, success in business is proof of having been chosen by God. Hard, disciplined work and a disciplined life without excesses can bring professional success, a sign of one's faith and spiritual salvation. Weber thus understands that the encounter between a religious ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit enabled the historical formation of capitalism. However, the pursuit of wealth, according to him, was no longer guided by ethical standards, but associated solely with "purely worldly passions." Over the course of history, the formative encounter of capitalist society lost its original meaning, and capitalist profit began to govern contemporary societies.
For Karl Marx, the perspective on labor is historical, as in Weber's. However, Marx emphasizes the difference between labor in general and labor particularized in its historical forms. It is on the historical forms of labor that Marx focuses his analysis, and wage labor in particular. For Marx, wage labor is a historical manifestation of how capitalism has organized itself in society. Based on the exploitation of wage labor, capitalist society produces and reproduces its existence. In other words, wage labor is a central activity for the perpetuation of social relations between capitalists and workers and, consequently, the exploitation and domination of workers by the capitalist. For Marx, the division into social classes was established based on the seizure, by the emerging bourgeoisie in the 18th century, of the means of production (land, tools, animals, etc.) from small, free producers. This formed the bourgeoisie (or capitalist class) and the proletariat (or working class), the fundamental classes of capitalism. The reproduction of this social division occurs based on the exploitation of wage labor that the worker sells to the capitalist in exchange for a salary.