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Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots
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About This Book
"This book is a tour de force." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take A revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman Work defines who we are. It determines our status, and dictates how, where, and with whom we spend most of our time. It mediates our self-worth and molds our values. But are we hard-wired to work as hard as we do? Did our Stone Age ancestors also live to work and work to live? And what might a world where work plays a far less important role look like? To answer these questions, James Suzman charts a grand history of "work" from the origins of life on Earth to our ever more automated present, challenging some of our deepest assumptions about who we are. Drawing insights from anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, zoology, physics, and economics, he shows that while we have evolved to find joy meaning and purpose in work, for most of human history our ancestors worked far less and thought very differently about work than we do now. He demonstrates how our contemporary culture of work has its roots in the agricultural revolution ten thousand years ago. Our sense of what it is to be human was transformed by the transition from foraging to food production, and, later, our migration to cities. Since then, our relationships with one another and with our environments, and even our sense of the passage of time, have not been the same. Arguing that we are in the midst of a similarly transformative point in history, Suzman shows how automation might revolutionize our relationship with work and in doing so usher in a more sustainable and equitable future for our world and ourselves.
Reviews
"An essential feature of our lives receives an ingenious analysis ..."
"Suzman argues that for all our modern belief that work gives us 'purpose' and 'meaning', it is not natural for human beings to work much at all ..."
"Suzman shows that, rather than struggling for scarce resources, the Ju'hoansi were relaxed and optimistic about their food supplies."
"That is likely why, instead of focusing on concrete policy prescriptions, Suzman simply expresses the hope that 'catalysts' like a 'rapidly changing climate' and increasing popular anger, 'ignited by systematic inequalities' as much as by a 'viral pandemic,' will shake people to their senses."
"From Suzman's galactic perspective, there's disappointingly little to say about labor ..."
"Drawing on the fields of economics, physics, evolutionary biology, and zoology to examine humanity's different approaches to work across time and cultures, Suzman is at his strongest in the early chapters, offering an intriguing look at how the Ju/'hoansi tribesmen of southern Africa and other foraging societies were shaped by their focus on the present, as opposed to farming societies, which focused on the future."
"his discussion highlights at a macro level what the Sunday scaries signal on a personal level: Modern life has made it harder for Americans to forget about their work ..."
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