- Aug 2023
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Whatever work there is should have as much meaning aspossible. Wherever possible, workmen should be artists; theirwork should be the application of knowledge or science andknown and enjoyed by them as such. They should, if possi-ble, know what they are doing, why what they are doing hasthe results it has, why they are doing it, and what constitutesthe goodness of the things produced. They should understandwhat happens to what they produce, why it happens in thatway, and how to improve what happens. They should under-stand their relations to others co-operating in a given process,the relation of that process to other processes, the pattern of-them all as constituting the economy of the nation, and thebearing of the economy on the social, moral, and politicallife of the nation and the world. Work would be humanizedif understanding of all these kinds were in it and around it.
Is this the same sort of shift in work noticed by Barak Obama in his four part documentary series Working: What We Do All Day which aired on Netflix in 2023?
Politicians should focus here especially.
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Is it not a fact that we are now so wrapped up in ourown occupations and the special interests of our own oc-cupational groups that we are almost at the pretyrannicalstage described by Vico, the stage where everybody is soconcerned with his own special interests that nobody looks
after the common good?
Vico? Giambattista Vico?
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Inthe educational system generally the actual conditions ofpractice cannot be successfully imitated; and the pupil is notcommitted to the occupation.Since the pupil is not committed to the occupation, theproposition that the occupations that are to be studied arethose which are indicated by the needs and interests of thepupil at the time is alarming.
There is a subtle definition of the word "committed" here.
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Dewey's chief reason for this recommendation is found inhis psychology of learning. "An occupation is a continuousactivity having a purpose. Education through occupations con-sequently combines within itself more of the factors condu-cive to learning than any other method. It calls instincts andhabits into play; it is a foe to passive receptivity. It has anend in view; results are to be accomplished. Hence it appealsto thought; it demands that an idea of an end be steadilymaintained, so that activity must be progressive, leadingfrom one stage to another; observation and ingenuity are re-quired at each stage to overcome obstacles and to discoverand readjust means of execution.
Purpose for the work involved or purpose for the worker? Does it show a shift to living to work or working to live here?
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- Jan 2021
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covid-19.iza.org covid-19.iza.org
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Lewandowski. P., Lipowska. K., Magda. I., (2020) The Gender Dimension of Occupational Exposure to Contagion in Europe Institute of labor economics. Retrieved from: https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13336/
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- May 2017
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annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net
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take orders
To "take orders" means to ordain as a clergyman to the Anglican Church. In the Regency era, many young gentlemen looked to the church as a professional option, especially younger sons who had no other inheritance or estate.
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fillagree
"Rolledpaper work, filigree work, or as it is now known, quilling, was a popular pastime for accomplished young ladies in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. The first known forms of this type of decoration, which is made by decorating items with many, many rolled and pinched or crimped pieces of paper, set in pleasing patterns, date from the 15th and 16th centuries" (Austenonly, Ladies Accomplishments, p 1).
*The above image is a tea-caddy decorated with fillagree work.
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traded
The tradesmen or middle sort are below Gentry and make their money by working. They could have as much or more money than the gentry class in some cases, but their status was always considered as lower.
http://www4.wittenberg.edu/academics/hist/crom/brit/socstruc.html
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annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net
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Marianne was discovered to be musical, she was invited to play. The instrument was unlocked, every body prepared to be charmed, and Marianne, who sang very well, at their request went through the chief of the songs which Lady Middleton had brought into the family on her marriage, and which perhaps had lain ever since in the same position on the pianoforte; for her ladyship had celebrated that event by giving up music
The comparison between Marianne showing her talents in music and displaying her abilities, and Lady Middleton, who used to play piano before marriage, depicts the importance of “female accomplishments” during this time. Women were to attain certain achievements (drawing, playing music, etc.) to appeal to their male suitors (Hughes, "Gender Roles in the 19th Century,"British Library).
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- Apr 2017
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annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net
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drove about town in very knowing gigs
A gig is "a light two-wheeled one-horse carriage" (OED). Austen is saying these gigs are very fashionable and flashy. These carriages relate lawyers to the association of wealth. Aoife Byrne states that "gigs in Austen's works highlight their owner's social aspirations, and they illustrate contextual attitudes to those aspirations" (Byrne, "'Very Knowing Gigs': Social Aspiration and the Gig Carriage in Jane Austen's Works," Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, vol. 37 (2015)).
. For the lawyers that "drove about" in these carriages, Austen is suggesting the connection of carriages relating lawyers to wealth and fashion. -
who had chambers in the Temple,
In other words, "who were lawyers." Edward's referencing the barrister's chambers in the Temple, an area of London.
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there was no necessity for my having any profession at all, as I might be as dashing and expensive without a red coat on my back as with one, idleness was pronounced on the whole to be the most advantageous and honourable,
A 1799 income tax put a particular strain on the middle and upper classes at this time. For Edward, being idly rich could also be beneficial. His options for rewarding work are few.
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