An Attempt at a Concrete Study of Attitude Toward Work

Abstract

Concrete investigation of the transformation of work into the felt first necessity of life, in the course of the building of communism, poses a series of theoretical problems to investigators. What is attitude toward work in general? What is a communist attitude toward work? What are the major factors furthering (or, on the other hand, inhibiting) the process of establishment of a communist attitude toward work? Is it possible to guide this process, and what must be done to accelerate it? The search for answers to such questions requires, aside from everything else, an investigation of the shaping of the communist attitude toward work as it relates to technological progress and to the change, on that basis, of the content and nature of what one does at work. It must be emphasized from the outset that, contrary to the assertions of the theoreticians of the "single industrial society," the interrelation between technological progress and change in attitude toward work is fundamentally different under the socialist and capitalist systems. Under capitalism, technological progress is now proceeding in the interests of large-scale monopoly capital. Under socialism this progress serves the interests of the working people. The establishment of socialist relationships of production signifies an objective change in the position of working people in society, and this in turn leads to a significant change in attitude toward work. However, this latter process proceeds in highly complex fashion. It is related not only to changes in the economy, but to changes in the consciousness of the masses of the working people, and to recognition by them of their own historical role. In this connection, the job of the researcher is to bring to light those new conditions and factors specific to socialist society which influence attitude toward labor, to discover resources that have not yet been utilized in developing a communist attitude toward work, and to develop practical recommendations on this basis.