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A Vision of the End of Work and the Emergence of Precariat

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The Future of Work in Information Society

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Economics ((BRIEFSECONOMICS))

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Abstract

This Chapter discusses the concept of the end of work and its increasing importance as a threat to capitalism because of the acceleration of replacement of labour by capital due to positive feedback. A review of opinions of authors writing about the future of work is given. Many specialists do not believe in the end of work, but the inventing of new professions and new workplaces is simply too slow today to counterbalance the megatrend of minimisation of costs of work due to the replacement of labour by capital. Future society cannot effectively function without market; but market society without work might be perceived today as a society of large and deep stratification, with the majority of people in social exclusion. Most excluded layer will be precariat, hence factors leading to the emergence and growth of precariat are discussed in detail. An additional factor is the megatrend of improving average education, hence it will be the educated precariat that will enforce future changes of capitalism. This will occur either in a revolutionary way, or in the way of rather essential modifications of the assumptions of capitalism if it could be achieved by democratic reforms.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GB/uk/ef762fa93fa89410VgnVCM1000003256f70aRCRD.htm.

  2. 2.

    Not only people “having successfully completed an education at the third level”, but also people who “are employed in an occupation where such an education is normally required”, Canberra Manual, OECD 1995.

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  1. National Institute of Telecommunication, Warsaw, Poland

    Andrzej Piotr Wierzbicki

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  1. Andrzej Piotr Wierzbicki
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Wierzbicki, A.P. (2016). A Vision of the End of Work and the Emergence of Precariat. In: The Future of Work in Information Society. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33909-2_5

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