Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Chapter One The Peculiarity of German History: Handicraft versus Handwerk
- Chapter Two Hamburg: A German Hometown?
- Chapter Three In Search of Hamburg Handwerk: Figures and Forms
- Chapter Four The Handicraft Occupational Estate in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic
- Chapter Five A Constitution without Decision
- Chapter Six From the Politics of Barter to Volksgemeinschaft
- Conclusion: Continuity in German History Revisited
- References
- Index
Chapter Four - The Handicraft Occupational Estate in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 May 2019
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Chapter One The Peculiarity of German History: Handicraft versus Handwerk
- Chapter Two Hamburg: A German Hometown?
- Chapter Three In Search of Hamburg Handwerk: Figures and Forms
- Chapter Four The Handicraft Occupational Estate in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic
- Chapter Five A Constitution without Decision
- Chapter Six From the Politics of Barter to Volksgemeinschaft
- Conclusion: Continuity in German History Revisited
- References
- Index
Summary
Even the circles belonging to the Handelskammer will have to learn that the times when one contemptuously spoke about “ the artisans” when one meant Handwerk are finally past. Handwerk does not allow itself to be shoved to the side any more, but will seek its support in its struggle for a new ordering of the Reich and the economy wherever it finds it. If the merchant estate places value on the fact of participating in this constructive work, it will first have to free itself from old prejudices and from the opinion that everything must structure itself according to its will. (Hamburg Bund der Innungen, 1932)
In 1902 the eminent French sociologist Émile Durkheim voiced his concern over a growing lack of moral principles in modern economic relationships. Everywhere he looked in the world of work he perceived distinct signs of normative decay. As an expert in social solidarity he could not help but worry that such a situation existed in so vital a sphere of society. It was as if capitalist industry, trade and commerce had escaped most forms of community control over their activities. Where occupational ethics rich in tradition had once ruled supreme, it now appeared that individual self-aggrandizement was the sole measure of contemporary economic success.
Even more bothersome for Durkheim was the realization that since industrial and commercial affairs had assumed such a pervasive and predominant role in modern society, the disorder that infected the economy would undoubtedly spread like a malignant cancer to the rest of society. Most persons living in an industrialized nation such as France tended to spend a substantial, if not inordinate, proportion of their waking hours in the pursuit of material interests. This meant that the greatest part of their daily existence took place “outside the moral sphere.” Under such circumstances the chaos prevailing in the economy could not possibly be quarantined from the rest of the social community. It would only be a matter of time before public morality, and with it the integration of society, would loosen and crumble.
To counteract this destructive process Durkheim cautiously advocated a return to a corporate, occupational organization of the economy.
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- Information
- Hometown HamburgArtisans and the Political Struggle for Social Order in the Weimar Republic, pp. 157 - 212Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2019