Monday, January 4, 2010

German word for work

"Praxis" a very theoretical German word used to describe "hands-on" work. Whereas the corporate English speech resorts to any number of idioms to describe the physical immediacy of work (lots of references to hands and the rolling up of sleeves), the German spoken by corporate managers to describe the non-abstract, immediate, sensual, bodily knowledge of how to perform labor is distinctly abstract, non-specific, and universal, so that working always appears as a general term within a larger economy.

A further little irony: the word "Praxis" is used both by old Marxists as well as new global fancy corporate managers. Both prefer the term as a single category that encompasses all the multitude of actions, thoughts, patterns and hierarchies inherent in work.

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