You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In this paper Evans attempts to analyze the factors responsible for the new sociological position of the working classes and the leisure classes in Great Britain. Whereas the gentleman of leisure was once considered the cultural ideal, he is now stigmatized as a 'drone'. The producing classes are now seen as warriors in the battle of production.
The author traces historically the traditional attitudes toward work. He believes that the teachings of Plato and Aristotle were an important influence in creating contempt for the workers who, in that society, were women, slaves or enemy aliens. He quotes from philology many examples of words associated with manual occupations, all of which have a sinister implication: 'crafty', 'designing', 'artful'.
Particular emphasis is placed on the fact that technical and manual activities were originally the realm of women. Work became despised because it became associated with the castrated person—the woman. The change of this attitude in Britain may be regarded as the last chapter of European history as we understood it in the past.