Manpower

This term has other meanings, see Living Force .

Living forces (social term) - this is the elite, an active part of society, people who voluntarily take on one or another civic initiative.

The term arose ^[1] and was fixed mainly in Spanish in the second half of the 19th century. It is used in the stable phrases “living forces of the nation”, “living forces of the city”, “living forces of society”. The Explanatory Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DRAE) defines it ^[2] as “people or groups of people representing a city, region, country, etc., due to their authority or social influence.”

The Internet encyclopedia of the French portal Linternaute defines “living forces” as follows: “A part of civil society that contributes to improving the situation in the country due to the strength of its obligations. ... In the social sphere, this term is usually used figuratively in relation to that part of civil society that is able to think, design and actively act in the interests of the country ” ^[3] . French President Francois Mitterrand since 1993 began to actively use ^{[4] [5] the} term "manpower" in his official addresses.

It is believed ^[6] that Leibniz's “ living force ”, the historical name of the physical concept of kinetic energy, served as the inspiration for the name. From the point of view of physics, any moving body has energy, “living power" - in contrast to a body at rest, which does not have such energy. That is, active, responsible citizens are the driving, “living force” of society, as opposed to the passive and non-initiative, which constitute the resting, conservative part of society.

Despite the relatively recent emergence of the term itself, the living forces of society have a much more ancient origin. According to one version ^[7] , the first examples of such social volunteering were noted in Ancient Greece, where citizens voluntarily created associations to perform fire, security and ritual functions. These and similar forms of gratuitous service were part of the liturgy - from the ancient Greek leitourgia - which means "public service" or "work of the people."

Some examples of the first use of the term “manpower” in official documents and in the press:

“We suffer from the troubles of the desert, and we must learn to subjugate it. This is a synthesis of our economic policy, which includes immigrants, manpower, which the nation uses through labor for production, development of industries. rural, expansive population movement, ... ”( “ Financial News of the Argentine Republic ”, Alvaro Barros, 1875, Argentina ^[8] )

“... we will convince ourselves that difficulties of such a diverse nature, so serious and numerous, must overcome the diversity of means and cooperation of all the living forces of society.” ( "The instruction of the people", Concepcion Arenal, 1878, Spain ^[9] )

Examples of using the term "manpower" in Russian:

"But as soon as the goal of life was set above the state, the living forces of society are freed, cease to be slaves of the state." V. S. Soloviev, The Spiritual Foundations of Life , St. Petersburg, 1884 ^[10] .

"I. Aksakov was deeply right on the merits of the matter, who defined the intelligentsia as a" self-aware people "and indicated that the intelligentsia" is neither an estate nor a workshop (we would add now: neither a class), nor a corporation, or a circle ... This not even a meeting, but a totality of living forces emanated from itself by the people "... Intelligentsia is the organ of popular consciousness, intelligentsia is the totality of the living forces of the people ..." Ivanov-Razumnik, What is intelligentsia? ^[eleven]

“Turgenev finds the living forces of the nation in the circle of the educated nobility. ... In "Notes of the hunter" it is repeatedly shown that serfdom is hostile to both the human dignity of the peasant and the moral nature of the nobleman, that this is a nationwide evil that adversely affects the life of both estates. Therefore, the writer seeks the living forces of the nation both in the peasant and noble environment. ” Yu. V. Lebedev. Literature, Textbook for students in grade 10 of high school ^[12] .