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David A. Spencer

Making Light Work: An End to Toil in the Twenty-First Century

Making Light Work: An End to Toil in the Twenty-First Century

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  • More about Making Light Work: An End to Toil in the Twenty-First Century


David A. Spencer argues that work is only an alienating burden due to the nature of work under capitalism, and proposes an agenda for shortening the working week while making work a site of creativity, usefulness, and joy for all.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 11 February 2022
Publisher: Polity Press


Is work a primordial curse? Or a spiritual calling? Or is it a tedious necessity that technology will abolish, freeing us to indulge lives of leisure?

In this book, David A. Spencer argues that work is only an alienating burden due to the nature of work under capitalism. He makes the case not for the abolition of work, which can remain a source of meaning and dignity, but for its lightening. Engaging with thinkers ranging from Marx and William Morris to Keynes and Graeber, he rejects the idea that high-quality work can only be open to a few while the majority are condemned to menial tasks. He sets out an agenda for shortening the working week while also making work a site of creativity, usefulness, and joy for all.

This erudite book sets out a compelling agenda for radical change. Its essential reading for anyone interested in the future of their work.

Weight: 392g
Dimension: 217 x 143 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509548620

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