“半自由劳动”:劳模工作与生活的内在紧张及其对社会工作的启示

“Semi-free Labor”:The Inherent Tension between the Work and Life of Model Workers and Its Implications for Social Work

马克思对异化劳动的批判和对自由劳动的阐述建构了一个劳动的理想类型:自由劳动。它的本质特性是自觉和自由。基于对21位劳模口述史资料的分析发现,他们的劳动是自觉的,但不是自由的。自觉表现为他们对劳动的热爱和从劳动中感受到的幸福、快乐、成就、荣誉与自我实现;不自由则体现为纪律、控制、压力,长时间的加班加点,对身体的损害,以及因过于投入工作而对家庭照顾不足。这是一种劳动与生活的内在紧张,可以概念化为“半自由劳动”。“半自由劳动”一方面说明了劳模劳动的先进性,另一方面又说明了这种劳动的现实性。社会主义初级阶段的历史条件和制度设置是形成“半自由劳动”之因。社会工作应该关注劳动与生活的内在紧张现象,倡导并践行工作与生活平衡发展的价值理念。

The model worker is an advanced example of Chinese workers,and the analysis of the nature of model labor has theoretical and practical significance.Marx’s critique of alienated labor and elaboration of free labor in the Economic-Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 constructed an ideal type of labor:free labor.Its essential characteristics are self-consciousness and freedom.Taking Marx’s theory of alienated labor and free labor as a starting point,this paper,based on the analysis of oral history data of 21 model workers since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,finds that their labor is conscious,but not free.Self-consciousness is manifested in their love of labor and the happiness,joy,achievement,honor and self-realization they feel from their labor;The lack of freedom is manifested in discipline,control,pressure,long hours of overtime work,damage to their bodies,and insufficient care for their families due to over-involvement in their work,which affects the physical and mental health of the model workers as well as their family’s well-being.This is an inherent tension between work and life,which can be conceptualized as“semi-free labor”.On the one hand,“Semi-free labor”illustrates the advanced nature of China’s model labor,and on the other hand,it explains the reality of this kind of labor.The historical conditions and institutional setup of the primary stage of socialism are the reasons for the formation of“semi-free labor”.In the primary stage of socialism in China,although the level of productive forces(including the level of technology,mechanization and automation)has risen considerably,and the situation of workers in terms of remuneration,labor intensity,and labor time has significantly improved due to the progress of enterprise management;However,the division of labor has not fundamentally changed,and has even become more detailed;workers still obtain consumer goods through the market exchange;As the basic wage system of Chinese enterprises,the piecework wage system makes workers consciously or unconsciously participate in the labor competition,and shapes the labor pattern of workers and the characteristics of“semi-free labor”of model workers.Social worker should pay attention to the inherent tension between labor and life,and advocate and practice the value of work-life balance.Specifically,social work should focus on the following aspects:First,based on the evidencebased concept,it should adopt a variety of scientific methods to conduct specific needs assessment of this phenomenon;Secondly,this phenomenon should be listed as an important part of corporate social work and trade union social work.The current corporate social work is effective in protecting workers’rights and interests and relieving workers’emotions,but it does not pay enough attention to the work-life balance of model workers(and of course workers in general);thirdly,it should give full play to the strengths of social work in carrying out public education,advocate the value of work-life balance,and form a certain conceptual atmosphere in the whole society.