hardcover, 333 pages
English language
Published June 3, 2018 by Allen Lane.
Be honest: if your job didn't exist, would anybody miss it? Have you ever wondered why not? Up to 40% of us secretly believe our jobs probably aren't necessary. In other words: they are bullshit jobs. This book shows why, and what we can do about it.
In the early twentieth century, people prophesied that technology would see us all working fifteen-hour weeks and driving flying cars. Instead, something curious happened. Not only have the flying cars not materialised, but average working hours have increased rather than decreased. And now, across the developed world, three-quarters of all jobs are in services, finance or admin: jobs that don't seem to contribute anything to society. In Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber explores how this phenomenon - one more associated with the Soviet Union, but which capitalism was supposed to eliminate - has happened. In doing so, he looks at how, rather than producing …
Be honest: if your job didn't exist, would anybody miss it? Have you ever wondered why not? Up to 40% of us secretly believe our jobs probably aren't necessary. In other words: they are bullshit jobs. This book shows why, and what we can do about it.
In the early twentieth century, people prophesied that technology would see us all working fifteen-hour weeks and driving flying cars. Instead, something curious happened. Not only have the flying cars not materialised, but average working hours have increased rather than decreased. And now, across the developed world, three-quarters of all jobs are in services, finance or admin: jobs that don't seem to contribute anything to society. In Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber explores how this phenomenon - one more associated with the Soviet Union, but which capitalism was supposed to eliminate - has happened. In doing so, he looks at how, rather than producing anything, work has become an end in itself; the way such work maintains the current broken system of finance capital; and, finally, how we can get out of it.
This book is for anyone whose heart has sunk at the sight of a whiteboard, who believes 'workshops' should only be for making things, or who just suspects that there might be a better way to run our world.
Halfway between the humoristic and scientific publication, what started as a provocation ends up in building a theory that is in fact a (often humoristic, sometimes depressing) criticism to capitalistic system and the work culture that is embedded on it. A must-read.
Having read the original essay on Strike the day it came out (funnily enough, my company blocked a lot of the sites that were hosting it the next day) I knew this was going to be good. This is clearly written, all conclusions supported by evidence and it makes a case that cannot be refuted. Of course, the true believers will just shake their heads but that's not refutation now is it? More like head in the sand.
Graeber hits all the main points. How work has become a non-consensual bdsm relationship. How moral envy underpins how most people think about work. And, most importantly, how work is the place where resentment is the everyday fuel for most people.
He has a most unexpected insight about how this bullshit jobs phenomenon has contributed to the rise of social media that I will not spoil here but it is so obviously …
Having read the original essay on Strike the day it came out (funnily enough, my company blocked a lot of the sites that were hosting it the next day) I knew this was going to be good. This is clearly written, all conclusions supported by evidence and it makes a case that cannot be refuted. Of course, the true believers will just shake their heads but that's not refutation now is it? More like head in the sand.
Graeber hits all the main points. How work has become a non-consensual bdsm relationship. How moral envy underpins how most people think about work. And, most importantly, how work is the place where resentment is the everyday fuel for most people.
He has a most unexpected insight about how this bullshit jobs phenomenon has contributed to the rise of social media that I will not spoil here but it is so obviously true I sat for a good 5 minutes laughing at myself for not noticing it before.
Recommended, yes. Necessary reading? Absolutely.
