User:Tommy.Isidorsson/sandbox

Work Science
As any science “work science” is defined through its target. As an object of knowledge and target of research “work” is not definable in any simple way. Work may be considered as a form of human-environment interaction that, in a functional sense, constitutes a system. In the course of the activity of this system both the environment and the actors are mutually changing. Work may be considered to consist of many levels that effect each other mutually, and it may be approached from different perspectives. As a consequence work is ontologically a diverse object.

Thus, as the first perspective the moral point of view was mentioned. It relates to interest to understand what is “good” human conduct and life. This perspective introduces work for religious and philosophical considerations but it is not a privilege of philosophers or theologians. It is also relevant for the every man in his everyday life. Moral conceptions related to work are part of the culture and have a regulatory role in a person’s behaviour.

A second major perspective to work is health. As an aspect of human living activities work should consider wellbeing to humans and not destroy their living potentials. Medicine and psychology are examples of sciences that provide possibilities to tackle work from health point of view. The aspect of health has been very dominant in research, not least because wellbeing and health may be threatened the economical, value-creating aims of work. Work as a value creating activity in the society has been tackled by e.g. philosophers, economists, or sociologists.

The contradictions caused by to the value creating aspect may becomes even more culminated if one considers that wellbeing is not only a question of work hygiene but also an issue of human self realisation and personal and social emancipation. Not only philosophy but also psychology and other behavioural sciences are needed for understanding the role of work in the development of the human personality, self, and identity. At present, people face difficulties to master the rapid changes that take place in the organisation of basic activities, i.e. family, work and cultural activities.

When thinking of work one also must take into account technology. Technology can be seen as crystallised human activity and knowledge. Technology takes a role of a mediating tool and facilitates interaction with the target of work. Further technologies, such as rules, norms and organisational structures regulate interactions between people in communities and work organisations.

Finally, work may be considered from the point of view of societal structures and institutions of the society and its culture. It is evident that the changes we experience in the working life today signify deep going transformations in the basic structures of the society. These changes revolutionise the structuring of time and space of human interactions. It is the role of philosophy and sociology to provide means to understand these changes.

During the 1970's the mechanisation of work and automation increased and new types of health and safety problems demanded attention in research. Psycho-social constraints of automated work gained more interest. Methods were developed to tackle psychological stress and strain, and to understand the changing content of work and qualification of the working personnel. The development continued over the 1980's, and, as a new feature, developmental and intervention approaches to work emerged. The decade ended, however, with deep economical regression and the economical and societal development stagnated for several years. The time thereafter has been characterised by attempts to tackle changes in work and working life. These changes are caused by the expanding implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the working life and in other spheres of the society, as well.

The changes in the technological bases of work have taken place in parallel with changes in the forms of production and with the increase of networking and globalisation of production and economical activity. There has been considerable optimism with regard to the potentials of the ICT to increase productivity, bring economical competitiveness, and to improve peoples’ quality of life. Indeed, Finnish statistics indicate that workers’ possibilities for education, control of work and working life, and for development have increased. However, people feel themselves increasingly threatened by pressing performance demands. They experience increased haste and burnout, are bothered of irregular and long working ours, and feel uncertainty about changes in work etc. These negative effects of work are considered as causes of the very high competition in the private sector and insufficiency of work force in the public sector (Härmä 2004, Lehto & Sutela 2004).