Essential Reads
Start here! These are some of the most talked-about essays on the topic of anti-work.
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The Abolition of Work by Bob Black (1985) | listen
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On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (2013) | listen
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In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell (1932) | listen
Or, if you prefer an overview of anti-work ideas:
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Antiwork – a radical shift in how we view “jobs” by Brian Dean (2014)
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Post-work - The radical idea of a world without jobs by Andy Beckett (2018)
Essays and Articles
Abolish Work!
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The Abolition of Work by Bob Black (1985) | listen
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Afterthoughts on the Abolition of Work by Bob Black (2015)
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For a World Absolutely Other by Wolfi Landstreicher (2002)
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The Mythology of Work by CrimethInc. (2018)
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How Ethical is the Work ‘Ethic’? by CrimethInc. (1996)
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The Right to be Lazy by Paul Lafargue (1883)
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Does Work Really Work? by L. Susan Brown (1994)
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Work Sucks by Kassandra Vee (2019)
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Manifesto Against Labour by the Krisis group (1999)
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Deconstructing Hierarchies by Colin Jenkins (2017)
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Eight Hours Too Many? by E. Kerr (2000)
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Abolish Restaurants - A worker's critique of the food service industry by prole.info (early 2000s)
Bullshit Jobs.
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On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (2013) | listen
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To save the world, we’re going to have to stop working by David Graeber (2020)
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Mobility, Meritocracy and Other Myths by Kevin Carson (2015)
Instead of work.
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Seven Theses on Play by Paul Z. Simons (2010)
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In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell (1932) | listen
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What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun? by David Graeber (2014)
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What is Mutual Aid? by sub.media (2016)
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Manifesto of the Happily Unemployed by Guillaume Paoli
Culture.
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The Mythology of Work by CrimethInc. (2018)
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The Tyranny of the Clock by George Woodcock (1944)
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The Reproduction of Daily Life by Fredy Perlman (1969) | listen
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Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price (2018) | listen
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Dark Satanic Cubicles — It’s time to smash the job culture! by Claire Wolfe (2005)
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The Psychopathology of Work by Penelope Rosemont (2004)
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An Illustrated Guide to Guy Debord’s ‘The Society of the Spectacle’
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Wageless Life by Michael Denning (2010)
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People Simply Empty Out, a Letter to John Martin by Charles Bukowski (1986)
Property. Class Society.
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What is Property? by sub.media (2016) | video
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What is Class? by sub.media (2019) | video
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Wage Labour and Capital by Karl Marx (1849)
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Escheat and Anarchy by Shawn P. Wilbur (2018)
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Capitalism is Collectivist by Samuel Miller McDonald (2018)
Strategy and Tactics.
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To Change Everything by CrimethInc.
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What is Direct Action? by sub.media (2017) | video
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Why We Don’t Make Demands by CrimethInc. (2015)
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Take the power back: breathing space, friendliness and solidarity at work by libcom.org (2017)
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True Stories of Ingenious Ways People Outsmarted Their Boss - Vice
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Steal Something from Work Day by CrimethInc. - April 15, every year
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Everything You Need to Know About General Strikes by Kim Kelly (2019)
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No More Fake Strikes by Joe Burns (2019)
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Workplace Organising Guide by libcom.org (2006)
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The Really Really Free Market by CrimethInc. (2007)
For those who love free markets and capitalism.
- When is Capitalism Not Capitalism? by Kevin Carson (2016)
Books: Non-Fiction
Perhaps useful: w/piracy
Anti-work.
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Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (2018)
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Abolish Work — A Lazy Exposition of Philosophical Ergophobia by u/AbolishWork (You can also get a free PDF of this book, just message the moderators)
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Instead of Work by Bob Black (2015) | PDF
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The Problem With Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries by Kathi Weeks (2011)
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The Refusal of Work: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Work by David Frayne (2015)
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The Mythology of Work: How Capitalism Persists Despite Itself by Peter Fleming (2015)
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The Death of Homo Economicus: Work, Debt and the Myth of Endless Accumulation by Peter Fleming (2017)
Culture.
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Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price (2021)
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Nickel and Dimed - On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
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Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It) by Elizabeth S. Anderson (2019)
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More Work For Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology From the Open Hearth to the Microwave by Ruth Schwartz Cowan (1983)
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Work Without End: Abandoning Shorter Hours for the Right to Work by Benjamin Hunnicutt (1990)
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Free Time: The Forgotten American Dream by Benjamin Hunnicutt (2013)
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Shadow Work by Ivan Illich (1981)
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Work and Its Discontents — The Cult of Efficiency in America by Daniel Bell (1956)
Insurrectionary.
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Armed Joy by by Alfredo M. Bonanno (1977)
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Let’s Destroy Work, Let’s Destroy the Economy by Alfredo M. Bonanno (1987)
Communization.
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The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee (2007)
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Getting Rid Of Work, chapter 3 from the book From Crisis to Communization by Gilles Dauvé (2017)
Automation and Utopia.
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Automation and Utopia: Human Flourishing in a World Without Work by John Danaher (2019)
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Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek & Alex Williams (2016)
Organized.
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Anarcho-syndicalism: Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker (1938)
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Strike Back - Using the Militant Tactics of Labor's Past to Reignite Public Sector Unionism Today by Joe Burns (2014)
Situationist.
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The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem (1967)
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The Book Of Pleasures by Raoul Vaneigem (1979)
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The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (1967)
Idle.
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How to be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson (2007)
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Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America by Tom Lutz (2006)
Books: Fiction with Anti-Work themes
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Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb (1999)
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The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips (2015)
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My Work Is Not Yet Done, horror novella by Thomas Ligotti (2002)
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Post Office by Charles Bukowski (1971) | listen
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Choose Your Own Misery: The Office by Mike MacDonald and Jilly Gagnon (2016)
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Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
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Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan
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The Art of the Siesta by Thierry Paquot
Short stories
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Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street by Herman Melville (1853) | listen
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"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison (1965)
Podcast Episodes
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Immediatism Podcast - for essays provocative and incendiary
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Bullshit Jobs (w/ David Graeber) - Ep 153 of Srsly Wrong
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Listen, Workaholic! - Ep 192 of Srsly Wrong
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Frugality Fables and the Poor-Shaming Grift of Financial Advice Journalism - Episode 77 of Citations Needed
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Self-Help Culture and the Rise of Corporate Happiness Monitoring - Ep 109 of Citations Needed
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Work Sux I Know - Machinic Unconscious Happy Hour
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Abolish Work - Ep 85 of Against Everyone with Conner Habib
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Brian O'Connor or Adorno & Why Not To Feel Bad About Doing Nothing - Ep 89 of Against Everyone with Conner Habib
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Work and the Anarchist Critique of Capitalism - Ep 2 of CrimethInc.'s The Ex-Worker
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Life Beyond Work - Ep 10 of Into the Agora
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Kathi Weeks, The Problem With Work - Ep 31 of Always Already Podcast
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Work Is a Four Letter Word - on BBC's Seriously... podcast
Links
[List taken from r/antiwork. Please feel free to edit!]