Definition of Clear Division of Labor
(noun) The distinct specialization of tasks in a bureaucracy that each individual must perform.
Example of Clear Division of Labor
- Assistants completing clerical work for their managers.
Clear Division of Labor Pronunciation
Syllabification: clear di·vi·sion of la·bor
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /klIR duh-vIzh-uhn uhv lAY-buhr/
- British English – /klIUH di-vIzh-uhn UHv lAY-buh/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /klɪr dɪˈvɪʒən əv ˈleɪbər/
- British English – /klɪə dɪˈvɪʒən əv ˈleɪbə/
Usage Notes
- Plural: clear divisions of labor
- A type of division of labor.
- Variant spelling: clear division of labour
Related Quotations
- “Bureaucracies generally reward compliance, not defiance. In bureaucratic settings, one does not typically advance by being the defiant, rugged, and fiercely independent individualist of American folklore, but by going along to get along, being a team player, following the rules and procedures, and slowly climbing the bureaucratic ladder one step at a time” (McNamee and Miller 2013:171–72).
- “Bureaucracy represented a new group of rulers and a new method of government in contrast to monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The concept of bureaucracy began to refer to power over the population. By the nineteenth century, the theme of bureaucracy as a threat to democracy developed into ideas that democracy was the fundamental corrective to the routine, inflexibility, and power that came to characterize bureaucracy” (Colignon 2007:179).
- “[I]f the division of labour does not produce solidarity, it is because the relationships between the organs are not regulated, they are in a state of anomie” (Durkheim [1893] 2004:37).
- “In order for the division of labour to engender solidarity, it is not, therefore, sufficient that each person has his task: this task must also suit him . . . . In effect, if the institution of classes or castes sometimes gives rise to painful wrangling, instead of producing solidarity, this is because the distribution of social functions on which the solidarity is based, does not correspond, or rather no longer responds to the distribution of talent” (Durkheim [1893] 2004:37).
Additional Information
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “clear” and “division” and “labor” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- allocation of resources
- class consciousness
- conglomerate
- distribution
- Durkheim, Emile
- economics
- household allocative system
- Marx, Karl
- subsistence economy
References
Colignon, Richard A. 1969. “The Sociology of Organization.” Pp. 179–88 in 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook, edited by C. D. Bryant, and D. L. Peck. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Durkheim, Émile. [1893] 2004. “The Division of Labour in Society.” Pp. 19–38 in Readings from Emile Durkheim. Rev. ed., edited and translated by K. Thompson. New York: Routledge.
McNamee, Stephen J., and Robert K. Miller, Jr. 2013. The Meritocracy Myth. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Works Consulted
Black, John, Nigar Hashimzade, and Gareth Myles. 2010. A Dictionary of Economics. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Law, Jonathan, ed. 2010. A Dictionary of Accounting. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall.
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Clear Division of Labor
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “clear division of labor.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/clear-division-of-labor/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
clear division of labor. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/clear-division-of-labor/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “clear division of labor.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/clear-division-of-labor/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“clear division of labor.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/clear-division-of-labor/>.