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    The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work
    Unavailable
    The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work
    Unavailable
    The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work
    Ebook326 pages7 hours

    The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work

    By David Frayne

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Paid work is absolutely central to the culture and politics of capitalist societies, yet today’s work-centred world is becoming increasingly hostile to the human need for autonomy, spontaneity and community. The grim reality of a society in which some are overworked, whilst others are condemned to intermittent work and unemployment, is progressively more difficult to tolerate.

    In this thought-provoking book, David Frayne questions the central place of work in mainstream political visions of the future, laying bare the ways in which economic demands colonise our lives and priorities. Drawing on his original research into the lives of people who are actively resisting nine-to-five employment, Frayne asks what motivates these people to disconnect from work, whether or not their resistance is futile, and whether they might have the capacity to inspire an alternative form of development, based on a reduction and social redistribution of work.

    A crucial dissection of the work-centred nature of modern society and emerging resistance to it, The Refusal of Work is a bold call for a more humane and sustainable vision of social progress.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZed Books
    Release dateNov 15, 2015
    ISBN9781783601202
    Unavailable
    The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work
    Author

    David Frayne

    David Frayne is a sociology teacher and social researcher, based at Cardiff University. His research interests are wide-ranging, but his main areas are social activism, consumer culture, the sociology of happiness, and radical perspectives on work. David is the author of several articles and has also written a chapter on critiques of work for the SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Work and Employment. Twitter: @theworkdogma

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    Reviews for The Refusal of Work

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    • 5/5
      Very interesting read. This book takes aim at the way our society enshrines the idea that virtually every adult should be working 40 hours a week (or, sadly, more). What if we were to question this idea? It makes points about how huge productivity gains could be used to shorten our working hours, but instead have mostly gone capital (aka line the pockets of big business owners). The author recognizes that we're nowhere near to achieving the goal of shortening our working hours, but provides a couple of starting points, such as creating a "politics of time". Worth a read for anyone working 9 to 5 (or worse) who dreams about things being different.