In
futurology,
political science, and
science fiction, a post-work society is a
society in which the nature of work has been radically transformed.
Some post-work theorists imagine the complete
automation of all jobs, or at least the
takeover of all monotonous, repetitive tasks (thus unworthy of humans) by cheaper, faster, more efficient, more reliable and more accurate machines. Additionally, these machines, unlike humans, do not complain about working conditions, and can work for long periods of time without stopping.
Other theories of a post-work society focus more on challenging the priority of the
work ethic, and on the celebration of nonwork activities.
Near-term practical proposals closely associated with post-work theory include the implementation of a
universal basic income, as well as the reduction of
the length of a
working day and the number of days of a
working week. Increased focus on what post-work society would look like has been driven by reports such as one that states 47% of jobs in the United States could be automated. Because of increasing automation and the low price of maintaining an automated workforce compared to one dependent on human labor, it has also been suggested that post-work societies would also be ones of
post-scarcity.
Literature
* Daniel Susskind: ''WORLD WITHOUT WORK: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond'', 2020,
See also
*
Critique of work
*
Four-day workweek
* ''
Humans Need Not Apply
''Humans Need Not Apply'' is a 2014 short film directed, produced, written, and edited by CGP Grey. It focuses on the future of the integration of automation into economics, as well as the impact of this integration to the worldwide workforce. I ...
''
*
Post-capitalism
*
Refusal of work
*
Tang ping ("lying flat")
* ''
Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work''
* ''
The End of Work''
* ''
The Future of Work and Death
''The Future of Work and Death'' is a 2016 documentary by Sean Blacknell and Wayne Walsh about the growth of exponential technology.
The film showed at several film festivals including Raindance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam ...
''
References
Impact of Automation
Futures studies
{{Critique of work