What’s Wrong with Work?

TL;DR: In this article, the authors look at three kinds of increasingly important work: green work, IT work, and the gig economy, in the context of the neoliberal society, the promises of technologisation and anticipated environmental catastrophe.

Abstract: Why does work matter? As changes occur in how work is organised across the globe, What’s wrong with work shows that how workers are treated has wide implications beyond the lives of workers themselves. Recognising gender, race, class and global differences, the book looks at three kinds of increasingly important work – green work, IT work and the ‘gig’ economy - within the context of the neoliberal society, the promises of technologisation and anticipated environmental catastrophe. It considers the ways formal work is often dependent on informal work, especially domestic work and care work. Accessible and engaging, it concludes by considering political and ethical questions in what might make work better, arguing that there is a collective responsibility to address bad work.