Przemiany kultury współczesnej a destrukcja etosu pracy
Transformations of Contemporary Culture and Destruction of the Work Ethos

Author(s): Wiesław Banach
Subject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences, Labor relations, Culture and social structure
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Adama Mickiewicza
Summary/Abstract: Since the beginning of time, work has been not only an inseparable, but also a necessary element of human existence. It was the result of the conviction, present in almost every culture, that only effort, renunciation, delayed gratification, learning, regularity or patience can make it possible to live in relative prosperity. By raising successive generations in the spirit of respect for work, its ethos was created. To put it simply, it can be said that the work ethos was one of the basic mechanisms for reproducing positive cultural patterns and codes. The changes that have taken place over the last few decades in the area of Western culture have had an impact on the perception of work, especially its role, function and, above all, legitimacy. As a result of the countercultural changes of the late 1960s, symbolized by the slogan Never work!, this ethos was destroyed.The article recalls the most important attempts to destroy the work ethos made mainly on the basis of Marxist and neo-Marxist ideology. It discusses important issues contained in books by such authors as Karl Marx, Paul Lafargue and Herbert Marcuse. It also interprets the postulates and statements of Klaus Schwab − a contemporary theoretician and visionary of a new type of economy and society.

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