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The medieval guild should not be viewed as an effective model. It ensured some degree of standardized quality of service and goods, but they also functioned to
by manfredo 8y ago
The medieval guild should not be viewed as an effective model. It ensured some degree of standardized quality of service and goods, but they also functioned to artificially inflate the price of labor by constricting supply. They we're discriminatory in who was allowed to join. A peasant couldn't just decide to become a watchmaker. An apprentice's family often had to pay to have their child educated. Many scholars have speculated that guilds reduced overall productivity.
That said, the spaces described in the article are not like this. They seem to basically be hackerspaces for artists.
- syn0byte 8y agoSo trade schools and certifications; What's old is less old again!
- manfredo 8y agoNot all trade schools work to reduce the supply of labor. If you hold a trade school that teaches people to be a plumber or carpenter and you don't artificially constrain who can and can't work as a carpenter or plumber then this isn't behaving like a guild. Certifications are more complicated - definitely some instances of certifications function as little more than to reduce the supply of labor. But there are some cases where wanting to certify some level of competence may be desirable.
- AdamM12 8y agoCould replace "medieval guild" with college and this would sound the same.