Post-work: What It Is, Why It Matters and How We Get There

by Helen Hester, Helen Hester

What does the future hold for work in our new technological age? How do we make sure that the uncertain future into which we are heading is heavenly and not hellish? How can we take the pleasures of work with us and eliminate the pains?

The we need a post-work vision.

Questioning the received wisdom that work is good for you, that you are what you do and that 'any job is a good job', Post-work offers a new challenge to the work-centred society. This timely book provides a vital introduction to the post-work debate - one of the most exciting political currents of recent years. It explores not only what the future of work will be like, but more importantly what the future of work should be like.

280 pages, Hardcover

Published February 20, 2025

About the author

Helen Hester joined UWL from Middlesex University, where she had served as Lecturer in Promotional Cultures and Senior Lecturer in Media.

Her research interests include technofeminism, sexuality studies, and theories of social reproduction, and she is a member of the international feminist collective Laboria Cuboniks.

Helen is the author of Beyond Explicit: Pornography and the Displacement of Sex (SUNY Press, 2014) and the co-editor of the collections Fat Sex: New Directions in Theory and Activism (Ashgate, 2015) and Dea ex Machina (Merve, 2015). She is also the series editor for Ashgate’s 'Sexualities in Society' book series.

Reviews

[Serf Doesborgh]

Great academic foundation and summarization of the entire field. However, it is not very rich in examples and strategy, which I hoped for. "How to get there" as is stated on the front cover is not really in this book.

[Ultramarinedream]

A clear outline with some great ideas, but I was looking forward to some concrete ideas of “how to get there” as said on the cover. This is still an important resource and I learned a lot as someone who is somewhat new to the topic. I noticed a decent amount of typos and hope future editions will have another round of editing.