32 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
32 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
|
# Co-operation of Labour
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Definition
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The interdependent collaboration of many workers across different trades and
|
||
|
|
locations to produce a single finished good. Smith demonstrates that even the
|
||
|
|
simplest consumer goods in a civilised society require the combined efforts of
|
||
|
|
thousands of workers — shepherds, miners, sailors, smiths, weavers — who
|
||
|
|
collectively make possible what no individual could achieve alone.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Source Chapter
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Book I, Chapter 1: "Of the Division of Labour"
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Context
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Smith's extended example of the day-labourer's woollen coat serves to illustrate
|
||
|
|
the vast scope of co-operation. He traces the supply chain from raw materials
|
||
|
|
through manufacture and transport to show that civilised consumption depends on
|
||
|
|
an immense network of specialised, interdependent labour.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Economic Domain
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Production
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Smith's Original Wording
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Without the assistance and co-operation of many thousands, the very meanest
|
||
|
|
person in a civilized country could not be provided, even according to, what we
|
||
|
|
very falsely imagine, the easy and simple manner in which he is commonly
|
||
|
|
accommodated."
|