ABSTRACT
The revolutionary nature of capitalism leads to constant shifts in labour power needs as entrepreneurs seek out new ways of making profits and new markets in which to sell products. A consequence of these shifts is that employment relationships and the individual identities developed as a result are disrupted. The introduction of new labour-saving technology and new social technology - for example, in weaving, cropping, and numerous other industries in eighteenth-century England - caused widespread disruption to existing work practices and led to the erosion of particular work-based identities and cultures (Thompson, 1968). In addition, the introduction of the factory model of production caused workers to coordinate their activities around the 'working day' in which time became commodified through the development of the clock. In the 1850s, further development and expansion of the factory system necessitated the spread of time-consciousness amongst the masses. Due to the expense of purchasing a personal clock at the time, a 'knocker-up' was employed to wake workers at an appointed time (Mumford, 1934). The creation of time-consciousness was buttressed by developments in morality and the associated emergence of the sin of 'time-wasting' within schooling, church, and the workplace.
