by Amelia Horgan
Pluto Press
6/20/2021, paperback
SKU: 9780745340913
'Work hard, get paid.' It's simple. Self-evident. But it's also a lie--at least for most of us. For young people today, the old assumptions are crumbling; hard work in school no longer guarantees a secure, well-paying job in the future. Far from equating to riches and fulfillment, 'work' increasingly means precarity, anxiety and alienation.
Amelia Horgan poses three big questions: what is work? How does it harm us? And what can we do about it? Along the way, she explores the many facets of work under capitalism: its encroachment on our personal lives; the proliferation of temporary and zero-hours contracts; burnout; and how different jobs are gendered or racialized. While abolishing work altogether is not the answer, Lost in Work shows that when workers are able to take control of their workplaces, they become less miserable, and even open doors allowing them to fight back against the elite.
Part of Pluto Press's Outspoken series.
Reviews:
"Amelia Horgan is, in the words of organizer Fred Ross, a social arsonist. Her book will set your world on fire. Somewhere in our bones, we know that work is getting worse. But with this book, Horgan has provided the match and the kindling we need to burn the whole thing down. Every sentence is sharp. Every sentence is necessary"--Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone
About the Author:
Amelia Horgan is a writer, researcher and activist. She is currently writing a PhD on work in the feminist political imaginary at the University of Essex. She has written for various publications, including Tribune, the Guardian and VICE, and is involved in various campaigning initiatives, including London Young Labour.