Anti-work
Encyclopedia
The anti-work ethic states that labor tends to cause unhappiness, and is increasingly challenged by work performed by machines. Therefore, the quantity of labor ought to be lessened. The ethic appears to have originated in anarchist circles, and to have come to prominence with essays such as In praise of idleness by Bertrand Russell
, The Right to Useful Unemployment by Ivan Illich
, and The Abolition of Work
by Bob Black
http://www.zpub.com/notes/black-work.html, published in 1985. Paul Lafargue
's The Right to Be Lazy essay is one of the oldest works on the subject.
The followers of this ethic typically argue that capitalist
and communist societies tend to encourage a "labor" mentality towards life either directly or indirectly through the cost of living, labor markets, the work week, applying normative
values to economics
, and social conventions. The critics then ask why with increasing mechanization the number of hours in the average work week have not fallen significantly; for example, Bob Black asks, "Why hasn't the average work week gone down by more than a few minutes in the past fifty years?" The devotees of the anti-work movement therefore attempt to find answers and practical solutions towards reducing the volume of work for a typical person and encouraging the activities they see as conducive to happiness.
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
, The Right to Useful Unemployment by Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.- Personal life...
, and The Abolition of Work
The Abolition of Work
"The Abolition of Work" is an essay written by Bob Black in 1985. The essay was part of Black's first book, an anthology of essays entitled The Abolition of Work and Other Essays published by Loompanics Unlimited. It is an exposition of Black's "type 3 anarchism" – a blend of post-Situationist...
by Bob Black
Bob Black
Bob Black is an American anarchist. He is the author of The Abolition of Work and Other Essays, Beneath the Underground, Friendly Fire, Anarchy After Leftism, and numerous political essays.-Writing:Some of his work from the early 1980s includes...
http://www.zpub.com/notes/black-work.html, published in 1985. Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law, having married his second daughter Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy...
's The Right to Be Lazy essay is one of the oldest works on the subject.
The followers of this ethic typically argue that capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and communist societies tend to encourage a "labor" mentality towards life either directly or indirectly through the cost of living, labor markets, the work week, applying normative
Normative economics
Normative economics is that part of economics that expresses value judgments about economic fairness or what the economy ought to be like or what goals of public policy ought to be....
values to economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and social conventions. The critics then ask why with increasing mechanization the number of hours in the average work week have not fallen significantly; for example, Bob Black asks, "Why hasn't the average work week gone down by more than a few minutes in the past fifty years?" The devotees of the anti-work movement therefore attempt to find answers and practical solutions towards reducing the volume of work for a typical person and encouraging the activities they see as conducive to happiness.
Films
- Pierre CarlesPierre CarlesPierre Carles is a French documentarist, who has often been compared to Michael Moore for his use of the documentary form to denounce mainstream media, which he accuses of having conflicts of interest .-Filmography:...
, Volem rien foutre al païs, (co-directed with Christophe Coello et Stéphane Goxe), 2006 (a French film documentary about various ways of living on very low income)
See also
- Refusal of workRefusal of workRefusal of work is behavior which refuses to adapt to regular employment.As actual behavior, with or without a political or philosophical program, it has been practiced by various subcultures and individuals. Radical political positions have openly advocated refusal of work. From within marxism it...
- Tom HodgkinsonTom HodgkinsonTom Hodgkinson is a British writer and the editor of The Idler, which he established in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney. His philosophy, in his published books and articles, is of a relaxed approach to life, enjoying it as it comes rather than toiling for an imagined better future...
, contemporary author of anti-work publications - UnemploymentUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
External links
- The Abolition of Work by Bob Black
- Free Time! Ludicity and the Anti-work Ethic by Laura Martz
- http://www.whywork.org/ an anti-work site
- On The Leisure Track: Creating Radical Alternatives to Traditional Employment by D. JoAnne Swanson
- Freedom, Capitalism, and Work (anti-work ethic essay)
- The Idle Foundation Anti-work campaigning organisation
- Idle Theory by Chris Davis