労働概念の歴史（4）

本稿では，19 世紀中期から 20 世紀までの労働概念の変化について，社会史家ヴェルナー • コンツェに従って検討を加える．　コンツェによると，ドイツ社会民主党の労働概念は，苦労と誇りという矛盾した要素を抱え込んでいた．ポール • ラファルグは，労働への愛を否定し，怠惰を賞賛したが，彼の考えは労働者の中には浸透しなかった．　一方，ロレンツ • フォン • シュタインは，労働は，人間の自由の現実化としたが，社会主義に反対し，革命ではなく，資本と労働の対立を調停する国家による社会改革が必要とした．　1848 年革命の時期になると，労働者は労働への権利を持ち，国は仕事を提供する義務があるという考えが出てきた．その中で，社会問題の解決という実践的な必要から労働は労働者との関係でのみ考えられるようにになっていった．　他方，産業化の進展により，労働に対する批判も強くなった．ニーチェやシェーラーは，労働を負担と捉え，労働を喜びとする考え方を否定した．　ナチスの時代になると，労働は，人種差別の根拠として使われるようになった．それによると，ユダヤ人は，共通の利益のためではなく，エゴイズムから労働をするので，遠ざける必要があるとされた．　コンツェは，労働の概念について，何度も，新しく整理し，議論する必要があることを強調している.This article traces the evolution in the meaning of “work” from the middle of the 19th century to the 20th century with reference to the studies of German historian Werner Conze.According to Conze, in its founding years, the German Social Democratic Party had not developed a unified concept of work, because members of the party had contradictory opinions about work, with some considering work as a burden and others seeing it as pleasure. Karl Marx’s son-in-law, Paul Lafargue, considered work to be misery and praised idleness, and he tried unsuccessfully to persuade workers to follow him.In contrast, Lorenz von Stein attempted to criticize socialism. For him too, work was the realization of human freedom, but he thought that this goal could not be attained by revolution. Only social reform on the part of the state could mediate the conflict between capital and workers. Conservative thinker Heinrich von Treitschke criticized socialism on the basis of an aristocratic concept of work. He distinguished between “upper” and “lower” work and held that workers should be content with their lower status.The revolution of 1848 in the German-speaking states gave rise to the idea that work was not only an individual matter but also a matter of state: people should have right to work, and the state had an obligation to offer proper work to everyone. Therefore, the word “work” tended to be used only to describe the wage labor of the working class.In the process of industrialization, the positive conception of work became a target of criticism. Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Scheler described work as a burden and an optimistic view of work as reality distortion.The Nazis used work as a basis for antisemitism. According to that view, Jews were motivated by egotism to engage in work. Therefore, they had no place in the community of altruistic people.