Abstract
It has been the gravest error of socialism, in revolt against class societies, to limit itself, so often, to the terms of its opponents: to propose a political and economic order rather than a human order… the alternative society that is proposed must be in wider terms, if it is to generate the full energies necessary for its creation…
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Further reading
Andre Gorz’s Farewell to the Working Class (Pluto Press, 1982) also begins from the decline of employment, but develops this into a critique of orthodox Marxism’s view of the working class as the central agent of historical change. Instead, he presents a challenging argument for a socialism which uses the possibilities of post-industrialism to construct a creative tension between individual autonomy and the socialised control of resources (including time) through the state. Here, too, though there are problems about how far the existing sexual division of labour is taken account of in the ‘decline of work’.
By contrast, Anne Phillips’ Hidden Hands (Pluto Press, 1984) presents a powerful critique of the male assumptions built into socialist policies about work and full employment. She sets out the case for including the problems of the sexual division of labour in any socialist attempts to plan ‘work’, and explores the conflicting interests of male and female workers in any future reorganisation of working time.
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© 1985 John Clarke and Chas Critcher
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Clarke, J., Critcher, C. (1985). Epilogue. In: The Devil Makes Work. Titles in the Crisis Points series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18013-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18013-4_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-23396-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-18013-4
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