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After Work
A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time
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See moreA vital and timely manifestol for a feminist post-work politics
A vital and timely manifestol for a feminist post-work politics
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Description
Does it ever feel like you have no free time? You come home after work and instead of finding a space of rest and relaxation, you're confronted by a pile of new tasks to complete—cooking, cleaning, looking after the kids, and so on.
In this ground-breaking book, After Work, Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek lay out how unpaid work in our homes has come to take up an ever-increasing portion of our lives—how the vacuum of free time has been taken up by vacuuming. Examining the history of the home over the past century—from running water to white goods to smart homes—they show how repeated efforts to reduce the burden of this work have faced a variety of barriers, challenges, and reversals.
Charting the trajectory of our domestic spaces over the past century, Hester and Srnicek consider new possibilities for the future, uncovering the abandoned ideas of anti-housework visionaries and sketching out a path towards real free time for all, where everyone is at liberty to pursue their passions, or do nothing at all. It will require rethinking our living arrangements, our expectations, and our cities.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
After Work by Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek is praised for its incisive critique of society's current work model and its vision for a future beyond traditional employment structures. The book explores the potential for technological advancements to reduce work and the burdens of domestic labour, particularly in single-family settings. It also invites readers to question the nature of work, advocating for more freedom and less drudgery. Reviewers appreciate its thorough research, thought-provoking arguments, and clear writing style, making it a stimulating read for those interested in social change and economic reform.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781786633071
Publisher: Verso Books
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 18 July 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Verso Books
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 140.0mm
Height: 210.0mm
Weight: 366g
Pages: 288
Collections
About the Author
Helen Hester is Professor of Gender, Technology and Cultural Politics at the University of West London. Her research interests include technofeminism, social reproduction, and theories of work, and she's a member of the international working group Laboria Cuboniks. Her books include Beyond Explicit: Pornography and the Displacement of Sex (SUNY Press, 2014), Xenofeminism (Polity, 2018), and Post-Work (Bloomsbury, forthcoming, with Will Stronge).
Nick Srnicek is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy at King's College London. He is the author of Platform Capitalism (Polity, 2016) and Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work (Verso, 2015 with Alex Williams).
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Pre-order
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The future of work is not coding but caring – high-touch rather than high-tech. The fastest growing jobs revolve around cooking, cleaning, and caring. Around half of all work is caring work done unpaid in people's families and homes. However, when we think about work, we still tend to focus on offices and factories rather than hospitals and homes –...Paperback$2499Unit price /UnavailableOut 1 Dec 2026Pre-order
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