The Mythology of Work :How Capitalism Persists Despite Itself
The Mythology of Work :How Capitalism Persists Despite Itself
paperback
Published:
20 May, 2015
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Description
In The Mythology of Work, Peter Fleming examines how neoliberal society uses the ritual of work (and the threat of its denial) to maintain the late capitalist class order. As our society is transformed into a factory that never sleeps, work becomes a universal reference point for everything else, devoid of any moral or political worth.
Blending critical theory with recent accounts of job related suicides, office-induced paranoia, fear of relaxation, managerial sadism and cynical corporate social responsibility campaigns, Fleming paints a bleak picture of neoliberal capitalism in which the economic and emotional dysfunctions of a society of wage slaves greatly outweigh its professed benefits.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780745334868 |
| ISBN10 | 0745334865 |
| Number Of Pages | 224 |
| Item Weight | 277 g |
| Publisher / Reseller | Pluto Press |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
'Thought-provoking.' (Business Book of the Week) -- The Times
'The practical lesson from Fleming's provocation is to ask ourselves how much of the work we do every day is simply posturing and bad habit.' -- Financial Times
'Highly recommended.' -- CHOICE
'Fleming's analysis of work critically confronts today's capitalism, now well into its shift from old centres to new, lower-wage centres. The resulting precarity, scarcity, and mindlessness of work imposed on the old centers is being covered with an ideological fetishisation of work that this book deconstructs well.' -- Richard Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
'Fleming has established himself as the foremost critic of our generation on the pervasive and pernicious ideologies of business.' -- Stefano Harney, Professor of Strategic Management Education, Singapore Management University
'Acerbic, darkly humorous ... an entertaining read' -- Kate Hardy, Times Higher Education
'Doesn't just paint a bleak portrait of modern life under late capitalism: it also holds that notions of the dignity of labour in the 21st century have become redundant, a joke.' -- Peter Murphy, the Irish Times
'I very much enjoyed reading this book. It draws upon a wide range of critical theory, especially Marx, Nietzsche, Adorno, Foucault, Negri, Certeau, and Deleuze and Guattari, in order to achieve a powerful critique of capitalist work' -- Sociology
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Peter Fleming is Professor of Organisation Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is the author of The Mythology of Work (Pluto, 2015) and The Death of Homo Economicus (Pluto, 2017).