The Critique of Work in Modern French Thought - From Charles Fourier to Guy Debord (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2019)

What is work? Why do we do it? Since time immemorial the answer to these questions, from both the left and the right, has been that work is both a natural necessity and, barring exploitation, a social good. One might criticise its management, its compensation and who benefits from it the most, but never work itself, never work as such. In this book, Alastair Hemmens seeks to challenge these received ideas. Drawing on the new 'critique-of-value' school of Marxian critical theory, Hemmens demonstrates that capitalism and its final crisis cannot be properly understood except in terms of the historically specific and socially destructive character of labour. It is from this radical perspective that Hemmens turns to an innovative critical analysis of the rich history of radical French thinkers who, over the past two centuries, have challenged the labour form head on: from the utopian-socialist Charles Fourier, who called for the abolition of the separation between work and play, and Marx's wayward son-in-law, Paul Lafargue, who demanded The Right to Laziness (1880), to the father of Surrealism, Andre Breton, who inaugurated a 'war on work', and, of course, the French Situationist, Guy Debord, author of the famous graffito, 'never work'. Ultimately, Hemmens considers normative changes in attitudes to work since the 1960s and the future of anti-capitalist social movements today. This book will be a crucial point of reference for contemporary debates about labour and the anti-work tradition in France.

General

Imprint:	Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Country of origin:	Switzerland
Series:	Studies in Revolution and Literature
Release date:	May 2019
First published:	2019
Authors:	Alastair Hemmens
Dimensions:	210 x 148mm (L x W)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	226
Edition:	1st ed. 2019
ISBN-13:	978-3-03-012585-1
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary theory Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > 19th century
LSN:	3-03-012585-8
Barcode:	9783030125851

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!