Overview

A deeply-reported examination of why doing what you love is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives. You're told that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Whether it's working for exposure and experience, or enduring poor treatment in the name of being part of the family, all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love. In Work Won't Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this labor of love myth -- the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries -- from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete -- Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work. As Jaffe argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower us to work less and demand what our work is worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.

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9781549162763

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Reviews

A stunning critique of capitalism, a collective conversation on the meaning of life and work, and a discerning contribution to the demands of the future society everyone deserves. -- Jane McAlevey, author of A Collective Bargain An extremely timely analysis of how we arrived at these brutal inequalities and of some of the ways in which a deliberately atomised workforce is beginning to organize to challenge them. -- The Guardian (London) By pulling apart the myth that work is love, Jaffe shows us that we can reimagine futures built on care, rather than exploitation. -- Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author Jaffe is clear-eyed about all the ways employers exploit workers' goodwill, but...she has also seen how workers use love to their advantage in organizing. -- New Republic Jaffe's committed, on-the-ground engagement, historical range, and ferocious gathering of revolutionary thought combines to create something genuine and profound. -- Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox Jaffe's exhaustive research, expressed in crisp and lucid sentences, is served well by her high-quality narration. -- AudioFile

Author Information

Sarah Jaffe is a Type Media Center Fellow and an independent journalist covering the politics of power, from the workplace to the streets. She is the cohost, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine's Belabored podcast, as well as a columnist at The Progressive and New Labor Forum.

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