Hastapenak (Dec 2023)
Work, under Scrutiny: Examining the Emancipatory Potential of the Work Ethic
Abstract
As a key component of the logic and discursive potential of capitalism, the evolution of the set of values that conform the work ethic has been closely linked to the changes in the forms of the capital accumulation process in Western societies during the 19th and 20th centuries. In this context, the work ethic has served both to dominate and to emancipate, naturalizing subordination to waged labor at the same time that it served as a legitimizing discourse for the increased recognition of marginalized groups. To explain this contradiction, I will make use of the concept of antinomies employed by Kathi Weeks to explain the ethic’s dynamism. Departing from the resources of Week’s theory, and through the case of the American welfare reform during the end of the 20th century, the dominating potential of the work ethic will be uncovered with the aim to disincentivize its use in future social movements.
