Abstract
THE English title is to be preferred to the original German, “Der Kampf um die Arbeitsfreude”; for joy in work is spontaneous, not the result of struggle. An interesting thesis is somewhat marred by extravagant phrasing; insensibly we think of “the devil rebuking sin” when the author inveighs against German books where “the old grist is re-ground into a new and jawbreaking terminology”; let the following from “Joy in Work” suffice—“certain kindred antinomies in proletarian characterology”, which doubtless well expresses the Teutonic original. The subject is treated under the aspects of “Impulse” and “Hindrances” to such joy, and it is based on reports from workers, in response to a questionnaire furnished by the author. He discusses medieval craftsmanship and modern mechanised labour, the merits and demerits of payment by time and by results, and distinguishes the factors that influence Teutonic psychosis from those that affect the Anglo-Saxon races. He wisely remarks that “payment by the piece need only endanger the quality of the product when piecework rates and minimum wages are so low that the worker has to speed-up immoderately in order to earn a subsistence”; and suggests that the owner's profits should “increase only in proportion to the increase in the workers' wages”.
Joy in Work
By Henri de. Man. Translated from the German by Eden and Cedar Paul. Pp. 224. (London: George Alien and Unwin, Ltd., 1929.) 8s. 6d. net.
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M., P. [Book Reviews]. Nature 125, 667 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125667c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125667c0