ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I survey arguments that have been advanced for policies and institutions that are intended to regulate the manner in which work is carried out in the formal economy.
Following Philippe van Parijs, I define work as activity “that is geared to the production (whether pleasurable or not) of a benefit that is external to the performance of the activity itself-and is, therefore, also capable of being enjoyed by others” (1995: 137-8). This is not to say that work must be motivated by the fact of benefiting another person. An individual might be motivated to work solely by what she will receive in return. This definition also does not deny that work can be enjoyable or have intrinsic value. Gregory Pence (2001), for example, distinguishes three categories of productive activity: (1) “laboring,” which is generally repetitious, lacking in intrinsic satisfaction and leaves little choice about how and when the work is done; (2) “workmanship,” which involves greater discretion, pride of the worker in the products of work, and the use of higher human faculties; and (3) “callings,” which is activity “directed towards accomplishing goals which tie in with larger goals in the community and world” (2001: 93-4). Although work is often most closely associated with laboring, as understood in this chapter, work can be just as much a matter of workmanship or a calling.
