The Tyranny of Work: Alienation and the Labour Process

by James W. Rinehart

Book by James W. Rinehart

Genres: Nonfiction

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Vincent Masson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canada, where I'm from, was a country founded on trades such as Lumber, Timber, and Grain. Most people lived on small farms. "The nexus of activity was the small rural village", as the author, James Rinehart tells us. Household essentials were produced domestically. People made a lot of their own stuff - soap, clothes, etc... Artisans used their hands and tools instead of machines. Barter was the prevalent mode of exchange.

There was a time, in other words, when profit was not the pure motive in this country. There was at least a passing interest in what was good for everyone and what was valuable as a trading commodity, unlike now. Work is now based on selling your labour for a specific time, and fulfilling that time, whether or not there is actual work to be done. It's based on monotony, tyranny, repetition and greed, and it's only purpose is to enrich a small cadre of people at the expense of everyone else and the natural world.

Industrial Capitalism really took off around 1870 in Canada, and farmers couldn't get the loans they needed as easily from merchants. Farms shut down. More people moved into the city. Factories became mechanized. The work of small-time artisans was uncoupled from the skills, cut down into smaller steps, and reproduced on a mass scale in factories. People revolted against these deplorable circumstances, and they have not stopped.

That's another fundamental story of this country that they don't teach you in school - the battle for workers rights. We love to boast about our heroics on Vimy Ridge and Juno Beach, but we seldom recognize the sacrifices made for our workers. That's because our Canadian media is, much like the U.S, committed to having us believe what Author Christopher Ryan calls the great "myth of progress".

It keeps telling us that everything is getting better. Everyone is employed, and therefore everything is fine. Everyone who is unemployed is lazy anyway, and doesn't matter, despite the fact that we often have the highest unemployment rate in the Western World.

Our society does not value happiness or meaning. Our society values work for its own sake.

"I'm creating Jobs!" The politicians cry, and everyone subsequently bows down at the alter of jobs, without asking if anyone is happy at their jobs, or if their jobs are even meaningful.

For instance, a globe and mail survey said that sixty seven percent of Canadians are "very happy" with their jobs. The article seems to take this as evidence that we are pretty satisfied overall. Are these people happy with their salaries, or just their jobs?

Also, as this book reminds us, people can report being "happy" with their jobs relative to the availability of jobs around them, which misleads statistics. If I have a job in a town where unemployment is high, for example, I might say I'm "happy" at work, despite the fact that I hate the work, simply because I'm glad to be employed.

I was walking into the grocery store the other day, and caught the tail end of a conversation between two old geezers standing outside.

"There are plenty of jobs, people just don't want to work" the male geezer said. "Yeah, there should be an island where we can dump them all", the woman geezer replied.

Much of the older generation has no concern for the long-term progress of this country, or the psychological well being of it's citizens. Just get to work, they say. Don't ask about your wages, or whether you are being exploited for profit. Don't ask if things can be made better. Don't even ask what you are working for or for whom. Just keep your mouth shut and work. And when it's all done, come home to your lukewarm marriage, and hypnotize yourself in front of the television to forget about it all.

Hope that works out for you.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started the book I was flyingggg through it, but I don't know if it was the author or me but by the end of it the fire that was there at the start wasn't there anymore and it felt not as interesting. Still a cool book regardless and has some very interesting ideas, it might be because of who the author was but it felt more focused on white collar workers and blue collar workers kinda felt like a semi after thought. Still solid regardless.

[jeannn]

self ref - "We rationalise our quotidian experiences by shaping belief systems to accommodate them, not the other way around. Thus, the 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal argued that, as scepticism came to replace pure belief, especially among the most devout religious practitioners, it was their regular churchgoing, or prayer, that inculcated a faith. In other words, if you wake up every day, fold your hands and pray into the heavens, eventually you will believe in God. The work ethic has another source too: a need to prove ourselves as worthy citizens in capitalist society. Those deemed worthy - of benefits, rights, privileges, entitlements - are those who can show they do legitimate paid work, or have done so in the past, and have therefore contributed to the state of the nation. This dimension of the work ethic has historically been associated with a class-wide identity of being producers."

[j · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tyranny of Work, while at times repetitive, gives an interesting and informed insight into aspects of the Canadian economy pre and post industrial revolution. I've read it through twice now, and though some parts of the book are dated (the statistics), some aspects are surprisingly relevant decades later (implementation of robotics).
It's a very well researched book, and explains things like pre-industrial revolution work with enough detail and pace to reward the reader and keep them reading. It covers a lot of ground, and does so within surprisingly few pages.
While it's not a perfect book, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in labour relations, the Canadian economy, or even just a well written/researched piece of non-fiction. Also, if you are going into the skilled trades, I highly recommend reading it.

[Megnbug · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was great for what it is, very well written and explored, though it should be noted that it was published in 1987 so obviously some of the statistics and numbers are quite outdated. overall not bad at all though, i really enjoyed it and despite some parts feeling quite repetitive and obselete, as an entirety it gave me lots to think about a topic that id previously never even considered with much depth.

[Julia Hopper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good textbook type of read, lots of citations and references to other reads.