Bullshit Jobs

A Theory

by

Paperback, 368 pages

English language

Published by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN:
978-1-5011-4333-5
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OCLC Number:
1056738022

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5 stars (3 reviews)

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.

20 editions

reviewed Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber

Five-star, life-changing book

5 stars

I loved this book so much! I found it entertaining and inspiring, personally (yes, I don't want to be stuck in a bullshit job, I want to think about what it's valuable and why and try to do it; see [*]), politically (hell yes, this system is fucked up, and all the moralising about work is very convenient for some) as well as professionally (I want to write like this about non-bullshit research).

The theory in a nutshell is that a larger and larger proportion of jobs, and especially white-collar jobs, are bullshit because they contribute nothing to society: they don't even make companies richer, but are simply the product of apathia or vanity. On a larger scale, this has happened because we are no longer living in a classic capitalist system, where capitalists 'control the means of production', but rather in a neo-feudal system, where political and economic elites …

reviewed Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber

Perchè non 5 stelle?

5 stars

Detto che la valutazione a stelle richiede un enorme sforzo per me, perchè non riesco a immaginare un sistema minimamente coerente per assegnarle, vi spiego la valutazione di 4 stelle e mezza. Il libro sul tema ha soddisfatto tutte le mie aspettative, non ho trovato dei difetti che mi hanno impedito di promuoverlo a pieni voti, è solo che in qualche maniera devo avere modo di segnalare i capolavori che tolgono il respiro.

reviewed Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber

Bullshitjobs und schlechtbezahlte nützliche Jobs

4 stars

David Graeber fragt sich, warum in einer kapitalistischen Gesellschaft so viele Jobs entstehen können, die offenbar keinen Sinn ergeben, wirtschaftliche unnötig sind und die Menschen, die dort arbeiten müssen, unglücklich machen. Eine Antwort hat er eigentlich nicht. Das Buch ist dennoch eine sehr gute Auseinandersetzung mit der kapitalistischen Arbeitsgesellschaft. Einige Kapitel lang wird die sehr interessante und wichtige Frage erörtert, warum gesellschaftlich sinnvolle Tätigkeiten im Gegensatz zu unnützen oder schädlichen Tätigkeiten so schlecht bezahlt werden. Als Lösungsvorschlag präsentiert Graeber das bedingungslose Grundeinkommen. Naja, das war etwas einfallslos, aber gut. Warum nicht. Es lohnt sich auf jeden Fall, seine Denkanstöße weiterzudenken. Vielleicht fällt „uns“ ja noch was besseres ein.