36 books
—
19 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Refusal of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory and Practice” as Want to Read:
The Refusal of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory and Practice
by
Modern capitalist society runs on paid work. Yet for many of us, paid work is at best a frustrating experience. Some of us are burdened with too much work, while others fight the hard realities of precarious, low-paid, low-quality work amid persistent mass unemployment. So what if we rethought the whole system?
That’s the ambitious challenge David Frayne takes up in The Re ...more
That’s the ambitious challenge David Frayne takes up in The Re ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
December 15th 2015
by Zed Books
(first published November 15th 2015)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Refusal of Work,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about The Refusal of Work
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Refusal of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory and Practice
Excellent. I enjoy any book that forces us to rethink aspects of our lives we consider eternal. This is a beautifully clear and thought-provoking discussion and I would recommend anyone to read it.
"'Normal' is a flexible category that is always ripe for reinvention"- David Fayne
This was a nostalgic read because it reminded me of the sociology books I read at the university. It also felt like a revolutionary act because the most simplistic description of the contents of this book sound like a communist manifesto.
What a great book! Solid research, sound arguments, accessible language - though it was a bit of a drag to get into thanks to the heavy theory.
The central argument is a critique ...more
This was a nostalgic read because it reminded me of the sociology books I read at the university. It also felt like a revolutionary act because the most simplistic description of the contents of this book sound like a communist manifesto.
What a great book! Solid research, sound arguments, accessible language - though it was a bit of a drag to get into thanks to the heavy theory.
The central argument is a critique ...more
In 2013, I embarked on a personal experiment in which I intentionally unplugged myself from traditional employment. I really wish David Frayne’s The Refusal of Work had existed during those first years, as it would have lent intellectual energy and a useful lexicon to a project that was difficult at first to articulate. I also think this book would have appealed more fully to my 2013-self than it does to my 2019-self.
The Refusal of Work explicates a “Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work,” b ...more
The Refusal of Work explicates a “Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work,” b ...more
Having read Kathi Weeks' work, I began reading sure that Frayne would simply rehash her work less well. Instead, I found that Frayne's disciplinary focus and ethnographic interviews were mildly informative; still more useful was the theoretical bibliography he offered--Adorno, Gorz, and Mills are useful theorists that I'm glad to add to my repertoire.
...more
One idea stuck really hard..."There are things that you think would make your life better when you have them, but there is no point if you spend all your time out there earning the money you need to pay for them."
...more
I am so glad that this book and I found each other. This book came to me at the perfect moment, giving voice to thoughts that have been bouncing around my head for the last two years or so. I am so thankful I read it. It sounds a bit cheesy, but this book was tremendously psychologically validating for me. In addition to being a well-argued, interesting read, it helped me feel less alone in my ideas about the world.
Many progressive and leftist critiques of labor focus on getting higher wages, b ...more
Many progressive and leftist critiques of labor focus on getting higher wages, b ...more
In his book David Frayne offers a provocation to the concept of modern work. He questions the unquestionable: Is it okay that work is
>>the one only source of status in our society,
>>the only way of making a living and acquiring steady income,
>>forming our identity,
>>taking up much of our free time besides working hours (commuting, trainings, learning new things, buying clothes for work, etc)
>>overall the most central part of most of our lives? And is it worth it?
Frayne explains through a histor ...more
>>the one only source of status in our society,
>>the only way of making a living and acquiring steady income,
>>forming our identity,
>>taking up much of our free time besides working hours (commuting, trainings, learning new things, buying clothes for work, etc)
>>overall the most central part of most of our lives? And is it worth it?
Frayne explains through a histor ...more
David Frayne looks deep into the accepted norm of a work-centered society. His argument is focused less on the economic value of work, but more on the various ways which society has equated work with a moral good. Even if your job is tedious, bad for your health, robbing you of time for your family or just to explore your interests, having a job is still seen as superior to unemployment.
His case studies offer a glimpse into the lives of individuals who have tried to negotiate a lesser presence ...more
His case studies offer a glimpse into the lives of individuals who have tried to negotiate a lesser presence ...more
Succinct and accessible analysis of why work as the ordering principle in our society is deeply flawed. The author eloquently captures the (taboo) rejection of how we have constructed work and is somewhat inspiring in his narrative. A must read for anyone sick of the daily grind.
Eye opening concepts about work centered society. Worth to read but presented research doesn't actually proof anything. I think more depth about the subject may be presented in cited materials.
...more
this was really good! theoretically not really telling me anything I didn't know but it was a valuable roundup of perspectives which are against work, and then the second half which is interviews with people who are themselves resisting work was really refreshing - actually thinking about stuff in practice ! I would also have preferred if generally it was more radical but it did end on that note
...more
32nd book for 2018.
I found this a fairly light, but interesting read questioning the underlying assumptions about the need for work as an economic, moral, and self-affirming activity within our society.
A significant part of the book is devoted to the analysis of interviews with unemployed or minimally employed people. While the interviews are interesting, they seem too limited in scope to allow much by way of deeper analysis.
Overall, the book offers the reader a good starting point for framing ...more
I found this a fairly light, but interesting read questioning the underlying assumptions about the need for work as an economic, moral, and self-affirming activity within our society.
A significant part of the book is devoted to the analysis of interviews with unemployed or minimally employed people. While the interviews are interesting, they seem too limited in scope to allow much by way of deeper analysis.
Overall, the book offers the reader a good starting point for framing ...more
A very interesting read and a mostly timely book. A challenge to society's dominant narrative that work is both good for us and necessary. Frayne makes the important distinction between work as an economic activity and tasks, that are performed creatively or in order to mutually support one another.
If you're disillusioned with your bullshit underpaid job, then you'll find much to ponder here. In a way, the refusal of work is a direct action of sorts but how do individuals survive outside the sy ...more
If you're disillusioned with your bullshit underpaid job, then you'll find much to ponder here. In a way, the refusal of work is a direct action of sorts but how do individuals survive outside the sy ...more
Inspiring and passionate, was engaging for the most part though it is a shame it is somewhat biased, the research carried out here departs from an evident desire of what it wants to find... Also it is constructed mainly around pieces from a bunch for previous works on the topic, which don't make this book very valuable by itself, more than as a compendium or summary, if maybe not comprehensive enough (even if a bit repetitive), since leaves some questions in the air... and with them the desire t
...more
This work challenges the way readers think about work and what it means. The first half of the book is a historic and critical look of work, while the second half is an examination of what it means to resist traditional full time "work" and the 9-5, forty-hour work week. The author interviewed several individuals who did just that. The reader gains a better understanding of the detrimental effects of the 9-5 by learning why these people resisted work (from not working at all to working one hour
...more
“The degradation of leisure needs to be understood as a symptom of the broader tendency of the economic demands to colonise every day life.”
“The concept of encirclement highlights the various ways in which the economic and temporal arrangements of capitalism have gradually reshaped our communities, dwellings and routines in ways that privilege a high level of consumption.”
‘satisfactions at second remove’: forms of relatively inexpensive satisfaction which the capitalist system has taken away fro ...more
“The concept of encirclement highlights the various ways in which the economic and temporal arrangements of capitalism have gradually reshaped our communities, dwellings and routines in ways that privilege a high level of consumption.”
‘satisfactions at second remove’: forms of relatively inexpensive satisfaction which the capitalist system has taken away fro ...more
Channelling the work of labour critics from the Frankfurt School to more contemporary thinkers such as Kathi Weeks and Andre Gorz, Frayne offers a look through the cracks in the cultural hegemony surrounding what he calls 'the work dogma'. Frayne explores these fractures and captures what is perhaps the zeitgeist of the neoliberal period - an intemperate fixation on an individualistic view of work in the moral, cultural, political and economic spheres - through a fruitful melding of theoretical
...more
Frayne tackles the false dichotomy that you are either working or doing nothing of any value. He goes beyond the fight for better working conditions and questions the whole work-centred culture. He asks what would it mean to be time affluent instead of simple producing and consuming more and more consumer goods?
He does this by reviewing existing theories and analysing his own small set of interviews with people resisting a work-centred life. I found the interviews were not particularly illuminat ...more
He does this by reviewing existing theories and analysing his own small set of interviews with people resisting a work-centred life. I found the interviews were not particularly illuminat ...more
Being relatively new to discussions around the sociology of work, I found this book extremely well written. It is intelligently articulated, while remaining inclusive to a wider audience. Frayne signposts arguments presented in an objective manner.
Though I enjoyed the first four chapters, I found the theory laboursome and heavily referenced. This was balanced by Frayne's analysis of interviews in chapters five through seven.
I most enjoyed chapter eight, in which we finally begin to see Frayne's ...more
Though I enjoyed the first four chapters, I found the theory laboursome and heavily referenced. This was balanced by Frayne's analysis of interviews in chapters five through seven.
I most enjoyed chapter eight, in which we finally begin to see Frayne's ...more
Everybody should be free to refuse to work. Only that does not imply that everybody else should support the ones who refuse to work. To make things even more displeasing, it is the societies coming from Frayne's part of the political spectrum that have created the Gulag, and not the societies against which Frayne militates. And everything is thrown in for the sake of emotion. Even ecology. Because even if people are employed, Frayne damns the whole argument because "what might the environmental
...more
Necessary and commonsense but a relatively measured and conservative approach to the topic (which is not really a criticism as it needs to be written like this if the mainstream are going to take any notice). Hopefully a lot of people will read this but sadly, like a lot of good ideas, the people who most need to read this (workaholics, politicians etc.) will most likely not. Especially enjoyed the last chapter.
Three and a half stars.
Three and a half stars.
The book shows the lives of people refusing to work or at least lowering their workrate and the effect it has had on their lives. The theory behind why people work and why it can be a slog is a very strong part of the book while the case studies are interesting, but very anecdotal in nature. But Mr. Frayne still manages to start a very interesting discussion about how work can and maybe should be reimagined.
4.5 stars, but I'll round up. The first half of this book was such a solid exploration of the origins of our culture around work. The second half - when the author explored the case studies - I didn't find quite as compelling as it was fairly basic and less "radical" I suppose than I suspected. But overall, I still would highly recommend this book for anyone questioning our default conditioning around work and capitalism in general.
...more
Well-researched, insightful and pertinent, this book was easy to recommend for its excellent qualities but, as with most books on the topic of work, a hugely hard to sell material to friends and even frequent readers of critical theory. For some reason I'm yet to understand, people seem to not even accept there's an issue to discuss about in the first place.
...more
A very accessible and readable condemnation of capitalism and this sick society. I only wish that I’d lived more of my life free from the indoctrination of “work.” Oh well, maybe there’s a brighter future.
stuff you already knew but had to be reminded of in a format that makes use of endnotes
Just read the Blinkist version.
Sounds good, informative but nothing that I didn't know about the issue of overworking. I'll check out the full book too. ...more
Sounds good, informative but nothing that I didn't know about the issue of overworking. I'll check out the full book too. ...more
Does not our current societal relationship to work thwart human potential and autonomous self-development on a massive scale? Is an "emancipatory transformation of society", through a reimagining of the obligation to work, possible?
The Refusal of Work is a thorough look at work-critical thought and practice, bridging anti-capitalist/anti-consumerist perspectives and less-ideological, common-sense refusal of overwork. Frayne's style is academic but quite accessible, and I found it to be an enjoya ...more
The Refusal of Work is a thorough look at work-critical thought and practice, bridging anti-capitalist/anti-consumerist perspectives and less-ideological, common-sense refusal of overwork. Frayne's style is academic but quite accessible, and I found it to be an enjoya ...more
This is an interesting text since I haven’t thought much myself about the systemic disalienation of your labor as a point of protest. The first chapters of Frayne’s book introduces me to several thinkers I have never heard of, and takes ideas from those who are more familiar, back to old grandfather Karl. But for me the Marxian framework is more about refiguring the ownership of the labor output than direct nonwork. Frayne goes back to Keynes to show that there was a leisure trade-off that was o
...more
A very well written and accessible book on the philosophy of work. Some well researched and interesting theories and perspectives. My only criticism is that the book conflates social attitudes towards those choosing to work less and those unable to work. The 'wealth ethic' argument is conspicuously ignored until page 199 (of 230ish pages), and then only mentioned in a throwaway paragraph.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
David Frayne is a writer and social researcher, investigating the social, ethical and political dimensions of our work-centred societies and beyond. He is currently contributing in his capacity as a sociologist to a project on 'The Hard Problem' in the Berggruen Fellows Program at New York University.
...more
News & Interviews
Who doesn't love a good science fiction or fantasy subgenre? If you're familiar with these categories, they can act as direct portals to...
181 likes · 33 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“When significant proportions of our time are spent working, recuperating from work, compensating for work, or doing the many things necessary in order to find, prepare for, and hold on to work, it becomes increasingly difficult to say how much of our time is truly our own. [ch.three]”
—
3 likes
“The development of productive technologies offered western society a choice: to have more leisure time, or to increase the production and consumption of consumer goods. Capitalism took us down the latter path, and the Utopian dream of ease and leisure for all was buried under a mountain of commodities. [ch.three]”
—
1 likes
More quotes…
