Critical social theory and the end of work

This PhD research examines the development and sociological significance of theidea that work is being eliminated through the use of automated productiontechnology. After examining historically, culturally and theoretically contesteddefinitions of the concept of work, it looks at the idea of the abolition of work inUtopian writing, from More to Morris. Next, the argument that Karl Marx, perhapssurprisingly, can be seen as the quintessential end of work theorist, is presented.At the centre of the project is an analysis of Herbert Marcuse's contribution todebates around the end of work. A discussion of Andre Gorz follows, withparticular attention to the parallels in Marcuse and Gorz's approach. As part of thenext chapter, the way ideas about the end of work have surfaced at a practicallevel, including the so called 'revolt against work' in 1970's North America, isaddressed. This is followed by an examination of how ideas about the future ofwork were expressed during the 1970's and 80's. The thesis moves on to examinethe notion of the end of work from a different perspective; having so-far looked atthe end of work as a social phenomenon, the project will survey the argumentsaround the move away from work as a sociological category; this chapter engageswith postmodernism and the supposed move from the 'metaphysic of labour' tothe 'metaphysic of consumption'. The thesis concludes with an assessment of thestatus of theories of the end of work as critical theories which address changingsocial, cultural and economic conditions.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral (Level 8)

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Granter, E

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337149

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337149