The publisher, Blackwell Publishers, February 17, 2000
Reclaiming Work
Description: Over the last twenty-five years, Western societies have been
reversing into the
future. They are able neither to reproduce themselves in accordance with
past norms, nor to exploit the unprecedented freedom offered by the savings
in working time which new technology has generated. In this major new book,
André Gorz argues that the societies created by Fordism have been falling
apart and have given way to "non-societies", in which a tiny dominant
stratum has grabbed most of the surplus wealth. In the absence of any
alternative political project, social disintegration and individual despair
have prevailed. Mainstream economists seek solutions to this "crisis", but
Gorz argues that we are in fact in the grip of a new system which is
abolishing work as we know it. The worst forms of exploitation are being
restored, as each is forced to fight against all (both at the individual
and the national level) in a desperate struggle to obtain the diminishing
supply of work. In the face of these developments, Gorz argues that we
should fight not against the destruction of work itself (in the sense of
stable employment), but against the new system's efforts to perpetuate the
ideology of work as a source of rights. We should welcome the reduction in
the working hours required to meet our material needs and should realize
the creative potential that this reduction could release. Through measures
such as a sufficient unconditional basic income for all and new,
co-operative economic structures, we can reclaim work and rebuild a future
beyond the wage-based society. Author Description: André Gorz is one of the
leading social and political thinkers of our time, and is the author of
many books, including Critique of Economic Reason, Farewell to the Working
Class and Paths to Paradise. Contents: Introduction. 1. From the Social
State to the Capital State. 2. The Latest Forms of Work. 3. The Lost Magic
of Work. 4. Moving Beyond Wage-Based Society. Epilogue. Digression I:
Community and Society. Digression II: Alain Touraine or the Subject of
Criticism. Notes. Index.
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