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Non-Stop Inertia: Life in and out of Precarious Work
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Expected 3 Feb 26In our culture of short-term work, mobile communications an rolling media it seems we are always on the move; but are w really getting anywhere? Non-Stop Inertia argues that this appearance of restless activity conceals and indeed maintains a deep paralysis of thought and action, and that rather than being unquestionable or inevitable, the environment of personal flexibility and perpetual crisis which we now inhabit is ideologically constructed. Written from inside this system of precarious employment and debt-driven subjectivity, illustrating its arguments with actual examples and using theory to make connections and unlock meanings, the book shows how in our constant anxious pursuit of work and leisure we are running on the spot against a scrolling CGI backdrop. As performative labourers full-time jobseekers, social networkers and consumer-citizens, we are so preoccupied by the business of 'being ourselves' that our real identities are forgotten and our dreams of resistance buried.
106 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 14, 2019
Not just what precarity _is_ but what it feels like: the grinding mundane indignity with the added strain of having to grin and bear it, keep calm and fucking carry on, to be resilient and agile and flexible and pathetically grateful for the shitty shifts chucked your way if you happen to answer the phone at the right moment. I cast my mind back a few years to four months or so of “jobseeking” when the seeking became my job and systematically marketing myself, while also lowering my sights and being realistic, was my nine to five. The sections on this ‘unworking’ life are especially good.
Southwood also provides enough factual content on topics like emotional labour, and writers like Virno (who is pretty tough going, let’s make no bones about it) and Ehrenreich (rather less of a challenge) to lead the reader towards more in depth and richer material.
See also Post Office and Factotum by Charles Bukowski, Down And Out In Paris And London, Working by Studs Terkel, and The weight Of The World by Pierre Bourdieu and colleagues.
Southwood also provides enough factual content on topics like emotional labour, and writers like Virno (who is pretty tough going, let’s make no bones about it) and Ehrenreich (rather less of a challenge) to lead the reader towards more in depth and richer material.
See also Post Office and Factotum by Charles Bukowski, Down And Out In Paris And London, Working by Studs Terkel, and The weight Of The World by Pierre Bourdieu and colleagues.
July 31, 2013
A finely done and demoralizing look at work and life in an urban setting. Southwood makes the good point that the conveniences of laptops and smart phones, the ability the work away from an office or to be an entrepreneur in one's own home, simply extend the tentacles of labour into what used to be the domain of leisure. His examination of precarity - the fragile nature of jobs, primarily in the manufacturing, warehouse and service sectors - is based on his own experiences and bolstered through the use of theories. Southwood's own experiences are more compelling.
It's a saddening read that, in the words of one friend in the retail sector who read this before me, confirms her suspicions and puts the right words on her work life.
It's a saddening read that, in the words of one friend in the retail sector who read this before me, confirms her suspicions and puts the right words on her work life.
November 3, 2025
Bra, men herregud vad deppig. Känner att jag måste bli marxist eller nånting för såhär kan det bara inte vara.
Några bra citat:
”I often arrived at the warehouse in the mornings with a mixture of relief that I still had a job and disappointment that the place had not been somehow swept away during the night, or hoping that the managers, knowing their time was up, has deserted their posts like a guard leaving a camp, so at last we could roam the aisles and offices freely without fear of reprimand until an executive somewhere remembered to phone a temp and order her to press a button and delete us all.”
“This suffocating indebtedness (along with fear of terrorism) is the closest the UK population comes to having a collective identity.”
“Work is no longer a secure base, but rather a source of anxiety and indignity, both a matter of life and death and utterly meaningless, overwhelming and yet so insubstantial it could run through our fingers.”
Några bra citat:
”I often arrived at the warehouse in the mornings with a mixture of relief that I still had a job and disappointment that the place had not been somehow swept away during the night, or hoping that the managers, knowing their time was up, has deserted their posts like a guard leaving a camp, so at last we could roam the aisles and offices freely without fear of reprimand until an executive somewhere remembered to phone a temp and order her to press a button and delete us all.”
“This suffocating indebtedness (along with fear of terrorism) is the closest the UK population comes to having a collective identity.”
“Work is no longer a secure base, but rather a source of anxiety and indignity, both a matter of life and death and utterly meaningless, overwhelming and yet so insubstantial it could run through our fingers.”
January 25, 2022
Yikes, this book is full of Real Talk about the state of work and people's feelings about it. I mean, just look at the title of the book and really think about it. The introduction has this gem:
There is a sense of overwhelming precariousness, in work, in matters of money, and in culture generally; a feeling of being kept in suspense which appears like a law of nature, rather than something human-made.
On a finer detail, while I'm fairly social at work, I always felt a degree of antagonism towards team building exercises. The idea of forced socialization makes me want to run away. Southwood explains this feeling perfectly:
The same can be said for "huddles" and "teambuilding" exercises, which paradoxically promote an individualized workplace in which informal social contact is compulsorily directed towards formal corporate goals, rather than work being a mere setting for social life.
There is a sense of overwhelming precariousness, in work, in matters of money, and in culture generally; a feeling of being kept in suspense which appears like a law of nature, rather than something human-made.
On a finer detail, while I'm fairly social at work, I always felt a degree of antagonism towards team building exercises. The idea of forced socialization makes me want to run away. Southwood explains this feeling perfectly:
The same can be said for "huddles" and "teambuilding" exercises, which paradoxically promote an individualized workplace in which informal social contact is compulsorily directed towards formal corporate goals, rather than work being a mere setting for social life.
September 10, 2012
a good, short introduction to some of the theory, and some of the general experiences, around precarity, but I question the conclusion that the solution to the problem is to draw attention to the inauthenticity/performativity/emotional labour of the exchanges and transactions of jobseeking and precarious labour by acting camp: this comes across more as a personal coping mechanism even in the writing, and an individualistic response to an individualising system hardly seems like a winning strategy.
the author critiques labour unions for their focus on protecting the jobs of a shrinking number of permanent employees, and seeing casual/labour hire/temporary/contract workers as a threat. this is a valid critique in many cases, and can be brought to bear against the very structure of the traditional representative union, but in conclusion the author disregards the changes that are already occurring within the union movement to try and arrest the slide towards precarity.
the author critiques labour unions for their focus on protecting the jobs of a shrinking number of permanent employees, and seeing casual/labour hire/temporary/contract workers as a threat. this is a valid critique in many cases, and can be brought to bear against the very structure of the traditional representative union, but in conclusion the author disregards the changes that are already occurring within the union movement to try and arrest the slide towards precarity.
March 30, 2012
Pretty grim reading. Concerns itself more with blue collar employment than white, and offers few real solutions (I'm not sure that "camp" is going to be very effective in the long run), but worth a look to understand the oppressive daily grind of temporary employment and benefit claiming. Only leaves the question of, given the author's evident academic intelligence and ability, why can he not find a gainful occupation?
December 10, 2018
Very accurate about current Sweden. And it's very very sad.
May 28, 2011
Ivor Southwood writes with deep intelligence--a rare thing. This book goes well with Zygmunt Bauman's books on liquid modernity and the culture of dissolve.
December 18, 2023
"Jobseeker! Can of Strongbow, I'm a mess! Desperately clutching onto a leaflet on depression, supplied to me by the NHS!"
I read Non-Stop Inertia (NSI) right after reading Capitalist Realism (CR) by Mark Fisher, and it almost feels like the former is an unofficial sequel to the latter, perhaps making some of the same points but in a less theoretical way.
In NSI Southwood acts as a kind of gonzo journalist, a street-philosopher, writing from within the belly of the beast to bring us his reflections on the miserable conditions of precarity, anxiety, "flexibility" and mandatory positivity that define life in modern Britain.
It often felt like Southwood was putting into words thoughts and feelings that I have long held but rarely been able to fully express. Any introvert reading NSI would be familiar with the 'emotional labour' that Southwood describes, the kind of contrived and moronic faux-enthusiasm that now seems to be demanded in every job interview, workplace and Job Centre appointment.
In the modern workplace, it is no longer enough for a worker to simply turn up on time and do the tasks that are expected of them. In addition to those stated tasks, what we might call 'formal labour', there is also an unofficial and unspoken job, which is to adopt the persona that the employer, manager or HR department expects you to adopt. In that sense, Southwood is right to say that the real 'customer' of many workers is actually their manager.
Southwood suggests that this kind of emotional labour acts as a deodorant for the managerial class, covering up the grim reality of precarity. I'm not sure I agree, it might just be a way of gaslighting workers into suppressing critical thoughts and comments - if everyone else around you acts cheerful and positive all the time, do you really want to be the one to stick their neck out and say "No, actually, this is shit".
I also really enjoyed the chapters on unemployment, or rather "jobseeking". I was on the dole in 2012-13, not long after NSI was published. The British welfare system is sketchy at the best of times, but in that period of 2009-2015 it took on a uniquely hellish and dystopian quality.
To be on the dole in modern Britain is to be trapped within a convoluted system of bureaucracy and surveillance, enforced through threats of punishment and ritual humiliation. The real purpose of this system is not to actually help anyone but to enforce an ideological claim; the assertion that unemployment is entirely a personal failure, and so all responsibility for escaping unemployment must fall on each individual jobseeker.
Under these conditions there is no space to suggest that unemployment might be seen as a systemic problem that requires political and economic reform. There is definitely no space to suggest that the ruling class might be using unemployment as a way to place downward pressure on wages.
Southwood also does a good job of describing and analysing the extent to which unemployment services have been privatised and outsourced to cynical "training" companies. This broadly mirrors my experiences in Australia, where many of the functions of Centrelink have been farmed out to private for-profit companies, set up by opportunistic grifters hoping to make an easy buck off the taxpayer. In both countries there is a trend of commodifying the unemployed so that others can profit off their misery, with the apotheosis being workfare policies that coerce the unemployed into carrying out unpaid labour.
The combination of all the above means that job-seeking never truly ends. Even if you have a job, you always need to be honing your CV, keeping an eye out for new opportunities, be ready to network, hustle and "sell yourself". There is never a point at which you can say "this is enough, I am enough".
Since NSI was published in 2011 (the same year there were mass riots across England) Southwood has been vindicated on a number of points. The government conceded that their workfare policies made no significant difference to employment outcomes, despite costing billions to implement, and they were quietly shelved. Emma Harrison resigned in disgrace, A4e were sold off, and several people were convicted of fraud - although sadly not Harrison herself.
In one area, NSI came out too soon - since 2011 we have seen the rise of the 'gig economy' worker, a new technology-enabled ultra-precariat for whom the language of choice and flexibility masks life balancing on a razor-edge of insecurity. In many jurisdictions outside the UK gig workers are not legally classified as employees, and so are exempt from any legal protections. It would have been interesting to hear Southwood's opinion on this.
In another area, NSI was well ahead of its time. His chapter on 'virtual mobility' and remote working seems eerily prescient in the wake of the pandemic. If remote working has the potential to liberate us from the four walls of the office or factory, then we must concede it also has the potential to imprison us at home. Now your home *is* the factory.
Like CR, NSI is focused more on analysing problems than finding solutions. I'm not convinced that camp is a plausible tactic of resistance; in my experience a deadpan tone is much more effective at skewering the infantilising demand to be cheerful. Either way, it seems like a performative solution, the same kind of performative labour that the exhausted precarious worker is trying to get away from.
In conclusion, NSI is a must-read for anyone who is frustrated by life in modern Britain, and at a mere 88 pages it isn't a huge investment of your time. Well worth a read.
I read Non-Stop Inertia (NSI) right after reading Capitalist Realism (CR) by Mark Fisher, and it almost feels like the former is an unofficial sequel to the latter, perhaps making some of the same points but in a less theoretical way.
In NSI Southwood acts as a kind of gonzo journalist, a street-philosopher, writing from within the belly of the beast to bring us his reflections on the miserable conditions of precarity, anxiety, "flexibility" and mandatory positivity that define life in modern Britain.
It often felt like Southwood was putting into words thoughts and feelings that I have long held but rarely been able to fully express. Any introvert reading NSI would be familiar with the 'emotional labour' that Southwood describes, the kind of contrived and moronic faux-enthusiasm that now seems to be demanded in every job interview, workplace and Job Centre appointment.
In the modern workplace, it is no longer enough for a worker to simply turn up on time and do the tasks that are expected of them. In addition to those stated tasks, what we might call 'formal labour', there is also an unofficial and unspoken job, which is to adopt the persona that the employer, manager or HR department expects you to adopt. In that sense, Southwood is right to say that the real 'customer' of many workers is actually their manager.
Southwood suggests that this kind of emotional labour acts as a deodorant for the managerial class, covering up the grim reality of precarity. I'm not sure I agree, it might just be a way of gaslighting workers into suppressing critical thoughts and comments - if everyone else around you acts cheerful and positive all the time, do you really want to be the one to stick their neck out and say "No, actually, this is shit".
I also really enjoyed the chapters on unemployment, or rather "jobseeking". I was on the dole in 2012-13, not long after NSI was published. The British welfare system is sketchy at the best of times, but in that period of 2009-2015 it took on a uniquely hellish and dystopian quality.
To be on the dole in modern Britain is to be trapped within a convoluted system of bureaucracy and surveillance, enforced through threats of punishment and ritual humiliation. The real purpose of this system is not to actually help anyone but to enforce an ideological claim; the assertion that unemployment is entirely a personal failure, and so all responsibility for escaping unemployment must fall on each individual jobseeker.
Under these conditions there is no space to suggest that unemployment might be seen as a systemic problem that requires political and economic reform. There is definitely no space to suggest that the ruling class might be using unemployment as a way to place downward pressure on wages.
Southwood also does a good job of describing and analysing the extent to which unemployment services have been privatised and outsourced to cynical "training" companies. This broadly mirrors my experiences in Australia, where many of the functions of Centrelink have been farmed out to private for-profit companies, set up by opportunistic grifters hoping to make an easy buck off the taxpayer. In both countries there is a trend of commodifying the unemployed so that others can profit off their misery, with the apotheosis being workfare policies that coerce the unemployed into carrying out unpaid labour.
The combination of all the above means that job-seeking never truly ends. Even if you have a job, you always need to be honing your CV, keeping an eye out for new opportunities, be ready to network, hustle and "sell yourself". There is never a point at which you can say "this is enough, I am enough".
Since NSI was published in 2011 (the same year there were mass riots across England) Southwood has been vindicated on a number of points. The government conceded that their workfare policies made no significant difference to employment outcomes, despite costing billions to implement, and they were quietly shelved. Emma Harrison resigned in disgrace, A4e were sold off, and several people were convicted of fraud - although sadly not Harrison herself.
In one area, NSI came out too soon - since 2011 we have seen the rise of the 'gig economy' worker, a new technology-enabled ultra-precariat for whom the language of choice and flexibility masks life balancing on a razor-edge of insecurity. In many jurisdictions outside the UK gig workers are not legally classified as employees, and so are exempt from any legal protections. It would have been interesting to hear Southwood's opinion on this.
In another area, NSI was well ahead of its time. His chapter on 'virtual mobility' and remote working seems eerily prescient in the wake of the pandemic. If remote working has the potential to liberate us from the four walls of the office or factory, then we must concede it also has the potential to imprison us at home. Now your home *is* the factory.
Like CR, NSI is focused more on analysing problems than finding solutions. I'm not convinced that camp is a plausible tactic of resistance; in my experience a deadpan tone is much more effective at skewering the infantilising demand to be cheerful. Either way, it seems like a performative solution, the same kind of performative labour that the exhausted precarious worker is trying to get away from.
In conclusion, NSI is a must-read for anyone who is frustrated by life in modern Britain, and at a mere 88 pages it isn't a huge investment of your time. Well worth a read.
June 28, 2019
Scathing critique of neoliberalism.
February 13, 2024
for my sociology course - it's a really weird world we're living in where we accept to live under these conditions.
September 23, 2024
3.5, brings to light a lot of aspects of the modern work that i haven’t really been aware of, also really fun to discuss
June 4, 2022
Not that I’ve never been there done that, but sometimes, it really is you.
March 31, 2014
Really interesting format (theory and autobiographical stories about being a temp), and will resonate with some people who are unemployed and underemployed. I do wish the author had covered neoliberalism a bit more, but overall this was a great read.
August 31, 2012
Excellent work on the issue of precarity.
October 10, 2015
This was an insightful book about the topic of work, and specifically, the nature of the 21st century labour market.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews