Determinants of the Division of Labor in China

Abstract

Human ecological theory of the division of labor finds its roots in Emile Durkheim’s ([1893] 1933) work, The Division of Labor in Society. Durkheim proffers division of labor as an inevitable consequence of increased physical and social density in human societies. A revival of interest in human ecology since the early 1950s has amassed a substantial literature of empirical inquiries into the determinants and consequences of the division of labor. Social scientists have conducted most of these studies, however, in the United States. The few studies that have transcended national boundaries (Browning and Gibbs 1971; London 1971; Frisbie and Al-Khalifah 1991) have, like the American investigations, generally supported Durkheim’s theory. Thus, they have helped to defend human ecology against the charge of ethnocentric bias, one of three fundamental criticisms of the ecological approach.