An edition of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
(2018)
Bullshit Jobs
A theory
by David Graeber
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Last edited by Gustav-Landauer-Bibliothek Witten
August 5, 2023 | History
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory is a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber that argues the existence and societal harm of meaningless jobs. He contends that over half of societal work is pointless, which becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth. Graeber describes five types of bullshit jobs, in which workers pretend their role isn't as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. He argues that the association of labor with virtuous suffering is recent in human history, and proposes universal basic income as a potential solution.
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Subjects
Bureaucracy, Job satisfaction, Psychological aspects, Social aspects, Work, Organizational effectiveness, Social structure, Labor, New York Times reviewed, Satisfaction au travail, Aspect social, Efficacité organisationnelle, Bureaucratie, Structure sociale, Travail, Aspect psychologique, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, Careers, General, Arbeitszufriedenheit, Sinn, Bürokratisierung, Arbeitskultur, ArbeitssoziologieShowing 14 featured editions. View all 14 editions?
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Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
May 07, 2019, Simon & Schuster
paperback
in English
1501143336 9781501143335
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Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
May 15, 2018, Simon & Schuster Audio and Blackstone Audio
audio cd
150826466X 9781508264668
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Bullshit Jobs: Vom wahren Sinn der Arbeit
Sep 01, 2018, Klett-Cotta Verlag
hardcover
360898108X 9783608981087
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Book Details
First Sentence
"In the spring of 2013, I unwittingly set off a very minor international sensation."
Table of Contents
Bullshit Jobs
Preface: On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs
Chapter 1.
What Is a Bullshit Job?
why a mafia hit man is not a good example of a bullshit job
on the importance of the subjective element, and also, why it can be assumed that those who believe they have bullshit jobs are generally correct
on the common misconception that bullshit jobs are confined largely to the public sector
why hairdressers are a poor example of a bullshit job
on the difference between partly bullshit jobs, mostly bullshit jobs, and purely and entirely bullshit jobs
Chapter 2.
What Sorts of Bullshit Jobs Are There?
the five major varieties of bullshit jobs
1. what flunkies do
2. what goons do
3. what duct tapers do
4. what box tickers do
5. what taskmasters do
on complex multiform bullshit jobs
a word on second-order bullshit jobs
a final note, with a brief return to the question: is it possible to have a bullshit job and not know it?
Chapter 3.
Why Do Those in Bullshit Jobs Regularly Report Themselves Unhappy? (On Spiritual Violence, Part 1)
about one young man apparently handed a sinecure who nonetheless found himself unable to handle the situation
concerning the experience of falseness and purposelessness at the core of bullshit jobs, and the importance now felt of conveying the experience of falseness and purposelessness to youth
why many of our fundamental assumptions on human motivation appear to be incorrect
a brief excursus on the history of make-work and particularly of the concept of buying other people’s time
concerning the clash between the morality of time and natural work rhythms, and the resentment it creates
Chapter 4.
What Is It Like to Have a Bullshit Job? (On Spiritual Violence, Part 2)
why having a bullshit job is not always necessarily that bad
on the misery of ambiguity and forced pretense
on the misery of not being a cause
on the misery of not feeling entitled to one’s misery
on the misery of knowing that one is doing harm
coda: on the effects of bullshit jobs on human creativity, and on why attempts to assert oneself creatively or politically against pointless employment might be considered a form of spiritual warfare
Chapter 5.
Why Are Bullshit Jobs Proliferating?
a brief excursus on causality and the nature of sociological explanation
sundry notes on the role of government in creating and maintaining bullshit jobs
concerning some false explanations for the rise of bullshit jobs
why the financial industry might be considered a paradigm for bullshit job creation
on some ways in which the current form of managerial feudalism resembles classical feudalism, and other ways in which it does not
how managerial feudalism manifests itself in the creative industries through an endless multiplication of intermediary executive ranks
conclusion, with a brief return to the question of three levels of causation
Chapter 6.
Why Do We as a Society Not Object to the Growth of Pointless Employment?
on the impossibility of developing an absolute measure of value
how most people in contemporary society do accept the notion of a social value that can be distinguished from economic value, even if it is very difficult to pin down what it is
concerning the inverse relationship between the social value of work and the amount of money one is likely to be paid for it
on the theological roots of our attitudes toward labor
on the origins of the northern european notion of paid labor as necessary to the full formation of an adult human being
how, with the advent of capitalism, work came to be seen in many quarters either as a means of social reform or ultimately as a virtue in its own right, and how laborers countered by embracing the labor theory of value
concerning the key flaw in the labor theory of value as it became popular in the nineteenth century, and how the owners of capital exploited that flaw
how, over the course of the twentieth century, work came to be increasingly valued primarily as a form of discipline and self-sacrifice
Chapter 7.
What Are the Political Effects of Bullshit Jobs, and Is There Anything That Can Be Done About This Situation?
on how the political culture under managerial feudalism comes to be maintained by a balance of resentments
how the current crisis over robotization relates to the larger problem of bullshit jobs
on the political ramifications of bullshitization and consequent decline of productivity in the caring sector as it relates to the possibility of a revolt of the caring classes
on universal basic income as an example of a program that might begin to detach work from compensation and put an end to the dilemmas described in this book
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Bibliography
Contributors
The Physical Object
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| August 5, 2023 | Edited by Gustav-Landauer-Bibliothek Witten | author |
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