Abolish Work: "Abolish Restaurants" Plus "Work, Community, Politics, War"

by Prole.Info

Finally available for the first time in a single book format, Abolish Work combines two influential and well-circulated pamphlets written from the frontlines of the class war. The texts from the anonymous workers at «Prole . info» offer cutting-edge class analysis and critiques of daily life accompanied by uncensored, innovative illustrations.

Moving from personal thoughts and interactions to large-scale political and economic forces, Abolish Work reads alternately like a worker’s diary, a short story, a psychology of everyday life, a historical account, and an angry flyer someone would pass you on the street.

The classic “Abolish Restaurants“ is an illustrated guide to the daily misery, stress, boredom, and alienation of restaurant work, as well as the ways in which restaurant workers fight against it. Drawing on a range of anti-capitalist ideas as well as a heaping plate of personal experience, it is part analysis and part call-to-arms. An additional piece, “Work, Community, Politics, War“ is a comic book introduction to modern society, identifying both the oppressive and subversive tendencies that exist today in order to completely remake society.

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Politics, Economics

97 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2014

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the format, like the radical thinking, but typical anarchist writing in that it presents no workable alternate vision.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

things I liked:
-accessible Marxist analysis
-using restaurants as a case study for the abolish work argument. I feel like I learned so much about restaurants!
-this read generates radical thinking/imagination/discussion

things I didn't like as much:
-I found some of the generalizations and criticisms made about co-ops and unions a bit too sweeping
-there was a weird comment about college degrees in the humanities and social sciences being useless. I think comments like this are weird because it is capitalism that reduces education to only being useful if it can be commodified and made profitable. why would the authors back up such an idea?

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comics by a collective of anonymous authors and artists promoting a kind anarchist/communist view of society. Takes a close look, in this volume, of restaurants as one unhappy instance of capitalism at work. Clear, often persuasive, and sometimes plodding in its approach and format and ever artwork, but here we are: comics as a political tool.

[Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall provides a pretty illuminating class analysis of the way a restaurant is organized. often veers too heavily into typical anarchist paranoia over, like, literally any organization of people that isn't the entire proletariat (warns pessimistically against unions, co-ops, "leftist sects," &c.)

[Kevin Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely broad brush strokes at certain points, gave me good food for thought and I learned more about the food service industry! I do think the generalization at times is what made it accessible. anonymity will lead me to question the interests and identities of the writers, naturally. Art was enticing. Now that I think about it, there was no real sympathy or interest for anybody that interacted with bureaucratic bodies, like fair enough I guess but i don’t know more nuance can definitely be derived elsewhere

as you can tell from my long hiatus of reading (at least to any sort of completion/follow through) and the shift in the subject, the moral failures of the world reveal themselves more and more everyday in our aging and in the genuine audacity of governing bodies. Well i don’t know we have to arm ourselves with knowledge. What are we gonna do

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abolish Work is a great primer for people new to the ideas of libertarian socialism, anarchism, and communism. It should also appeal to anyone that just enjoys the experience of reading politically subversive material regardless of how familiar they are with the subject matter. The text is supported by really attractive artwork, and keeps its message simple...

It isn't directly stated anywhere in the text, but it is specifically promoting anarchist-communism (not state oriented, dictatorships), which makes it a good primer for that particular subgroup. I first encountered a part of this book in the pages of an issue of The Northeastern Anarchist, a magazine published by Common Struggle Libertarian Communist Federation, (formerly: The North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists), so I knew what to expect.

I have to admit, while I liked the book itself, it is the artwork that really makes this book appealing to me. There are other other great introductory books out there, but this one is easy to digest and the art is effective. I particularly love the re-imagined "Pyramid of Capitalism" image, inspired by the century old classic Industrial Workers of the World version.

[Andrew Eder · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot that I really liked. There was a lot that I didn’t fully understand. And there were some parts that made me go “Ummmmm……”. It’s definitely more on the radical side of literature I’ve read.

The take it has on restaurants is very interesting and well laid out. It definitely made me think about other institutions under capitalism that are not great.

The Communism in this book really spoke to me and I loved those parts especially in discussion about communities and the “need” to sell our time / work in order to survive.

The overall vibe I got was an incredibly aggressive hate towards all restaurant and food service jobs which, yeah I’m sure that’s real for a good chunk of people working in restaurants, but I’m sure there are plenty of people that have it better and might enjoy the service? Maybe? I did love the part discussing how people working in restaurants rarely WANT to work there, meaning they’re a server by day but singer by night, or server on the weekdays and artist on weekends. That part hit me hard in terms of considering the overall “need” for restaurants.

[Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part one is required reading for anyone who wants to eat in a restaurant. Part two definitely reads at times like it was written by white manarchists, which, it probably was. I saw a one star review complaining that no alternative solution to capitalism was presented and CAN I JUST SAY that not yet having a viable alternative does NOT mean the current system shouldn't be criticized. How do you think we're going to come up with a better way if we never evaluate how things are now? How about you come up with a better defense of capitalism. I'm not mad.

[Fable ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF - I don't know what I expected but it definitely wasn't this bitter mess. 1.5 stars.

[Tara Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the format and structure. Highlighted a lot of very real issues and did *alright* to make it easy to understand for those who are new to any kind of abolitionist ideology. A lot of complaints that I’ve seen, and also hold to a degree, is that there is a lack of alternatives for the systems in place. Mariame Kaba in ‘We Do This ‘Til We Free Us’ makes a great point that abolitionism is very much in an experimental phase—make educated attempts at change, hope it lands. A lot of attempts result in failure,however..and every step we [proletariat] take, they [bourgeoise] have the resources to take like 4 steps and send us back 2 if they want. So while, no, there weren’t great alternatives presented. But important issues were explored at length (though, it could be phrased more accessibly considering the literacy crisis in the U.S). Honestly, it just reaffirms what [many] already existing leftists believe. Which can be refreshing, but I think with the basic topics discussed, it could have been made easier to share for those who truly need to see it. (Considering revolution has mostly manifested through peasants rather than industrial workers as Marx predicted).

[Diego Dotta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could be super interesting if it really dove into the author's (terrible) experiences working in restaurants.

But honestly, it feels like it was written after a burnout.

[Ian Silber · Rating 5 out of 5]

short read that makes some very good points about how our modern economy works.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great, not terrible, just meh. This book's title is misleading, as it isn't about abolishing work at all. Instead, it contains two short illustrated essays: a workers' manifesto on abolishing restaurants (not just the restaurant industry but also the idea of restaurants at all) and a second shorter piece with some superficial leftist ideas on work, power relations, and building community.

This is a very short text (with lots of art), so I forgive the authors for not going into too much detail about any of their points, or for engaging in a serious way with any counterarguments or differing perspectives. I get that this book is meant to have the vibe of an fiery working class zine, not a dense academic text.

At the same time, this book just doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table. I've read a lot of leftist and antiwork books, and this one didn't say anything compelling or offer a new perspective. Its ideas are so quickly sketched out (with no nuance, elaboration, or acknowledgment of disagreements or gray areas) that I also wouldn't recommend it to people new to leftist thought. There are much better books out there for an anarchist perspective on work.

Finally, Abolish Work's stance on unions is pretty juvenile. The authors have zero time for unions, and I assume they would tell all those Starbucks workers that they are wasting their time organizing. To these authors, unions are useless bureaucratic junk. Instead of liberating workers and giving them a seat at the table, unions oppress them, take their money, fight to keep them in a subservient position, and channel workers' anger in unproductive ways.

While I grant that unions can be corrupt and bureaucratic, I don't see this as a reason to avoid unionization. Instead, this is a reason that workers need to be militant (ready and willing to strike and withhold their labor) and actively engaged in their union. Workers are the union, and they must see themselves as such, rather than treating the union like a customer service organization to resolve work disputes on their behalf.

"Unions are built by workers," the authors write, "but they are not the workers. The unions represent workers as workers within the work process. While they may call strikes and even break the law, their starting and ending point is us at work."

This is a pretty bold claim (without any elaboration, of course). It is key for workers in a union to recognize that they are, in fact, the union. It is their effort and energy that make the union, and the union succeeds or fails because of that engagement. To see a union as a bureaucratic apparatus that is "not the workers" is to fundamentally misunderstand what a union is. In addition to its role of giving workers a say in their own working conditions, a union is a crucial first step for the working class to (a) identify its class interests as workers and (b) build solidarity with each other to advance those class interests. Is it as awesome as an anarchist utopia? No. But it is a key stepping stone to hopefully getting there someday.

And the idea that a union's "starting and ending point is us at work" is a narrow vision of what a union is—and the change that a strong union can achieve. An effective union goes beyond the workplace where you clock in and out every day. A good union can win concessions and improvements that go beyond the walls of the workplace and into the community itself. I'm thinking particularly of the Longshoremen and the American teachers unions here, which do a masterful job of including demands for the larger community they live in when they negotiate contracts and go on strike.

Just because the authors cannot imagine an effective union does not mean they don't exist. And what do the authors offer as an alternative form of organizing and effecting change? Nothing. They go right back to insisting that restaurants should instead just not exist. End of discussion.

Meh.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The anonymous author is obviously a seasoned activist and many of the most unorthodox takes – such as the attack on the professionalization of unions – are on point. Unfortunately I think books like these are bad for the left, because they merely summarize a worldview rather than creating a serious action plan. Anyone new to politics would read this and walk away hopeless because the author does not provide a viable path out of oppression. Society sucks. Unions suck. Work sucks. The restaurant business in particular sucks. I agree with all of that. But how do you get to a point where you change that? The author never provides an answer that withstands scrutiny or goes into detail. The call to violence and bizarre claim of being “anti-community” only play into right-wing stereotypes of the left as psychopathic vandals. If you want to get inspired, read Jane McAlevey, Angela Davis, Jonathan Smucker, or Francis Fox Piven instead.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a lot better than I was expecting. It's definitely something for new folks to read to get a firmer grasp of Communist politics.

In "Work Community Politics, War" the author labels the working class developing its own organizational forms and disregarding the old government as anarchism, which as something like a council communist i disagree with. But I understand that they conceive anarchism a little differently from other anarchists (the non-historical materialist or class struggle anarchists types).

This section, also from "Work, Community, Politics, War," also bothered me:

“There will be no need for a stand-in for everything that can be bought and sold-money-when there is no need to measure work time stored in those things. This could only happen when we make and do things because there is a need for them and not in order to exchange them.”

I figure that the author is an anarchist-communist type of anarchist communist (in that they reject labor-time accounting in favor of galloping into higher phase communism immediately). It just really bothers me that (1) they say that money is simply a store of labor time and not value & (2) discount vouchers in the same breath. The last sentence about producing for need is great though.

Besides that semantic nitpick and being a little bit of a freak about definitions of money and protective of labor-time accounting, i loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone who's first getting into communist politics.

[celestine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is two pamphlets; the first is the majority of the book, and explains the workings and origins of restaurants from an anarcho-communist perspective. The second pamphlet is about ten pages and essentially a call to action to fight against capitalism. Much like any anarchist text, there’s little on the “how do we get there?” because the main thrust of anarchism these days is just “all we have to do is change minds”. This book honestly just expects people to literally take up arms in solidarity after you get done with it... It rails against unions as well, and admittedly the history of unions in the neoliberal era is capitulation to capital... But it’s at the end of something like this that always pushes me in the direction of Leninism and Unionism, because therein lies some actual strategy. Their critiques of these potentially bureaucratic strategic structures aren’t wrong. But I think what we’ll need in the 21st Century is a synthesis of these ideas.

[n · Rating 4 out of 5]

It packs a lot into one place, with a lot of really well constructed and fast critiques. Definitely good for those who haven't yet recognised the way that restaurants fit into the capitalist system (because the first two sections focus on the food service sector).

Two things I wasn't fond of, though.

First, the zine design with hyper-crammed text, which was frustrating for a dyslexic person. Sometimes I couldn't figure out where I was in a sentence, meaning I had to go backwards. Genuinely had to read it on the computer because I needed to be able to highlight lines to keep reading properly.

Second, a common issue in anarchist agitprop is provocative phrasing that often shows cracks in solidarity. They talk about people as being 'schizophrenic', implying that this is an inherently bad thing (or implying the people doing this are bad). We don't need to do ableism in our agitprop; we can be clear, provocative, and easily understood without it.

[Mike Redante · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are *some*redeeming qualities to this pamphlet / comic. Using the restaurant as an example to understand the working conditions Capitalism creates is fine and interesting. Though the illustrations to animate the narrative were dull. At the end of the day it’s a Proudhonian / anarchist analysis of the individual and work and you can take that for what it is (not for me)

[J Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmmm I wanted to come out the end radicalized once more, but my brain feels the same. It was nice to read for the sake of refreshing my ideas, but generally it wasn’t groundbreaking. Also, I wanted some ideas expressed to be further developed and felt as though they were left loose ended, but anyway, it was nice ig. Quick read.

[Adrià · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reading at the begining, clear ideas and good writting too, but it gets a little boring and repetitive at the end.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat, brief illustrated guide to class war.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique and accessible illustrated explanation of exactly how capitalism exploits us workers using the food industry as the primary example. I want to read this again.

[Cary Stough]

Reading for thinking about "comic forms"

[Donut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visually stunning and a lot of the messaging seems good but the Dutch translation, which looked to be Google translate, was so piss poor sometimes it was hard to tell or make sense of it.

[are we there yet · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much I didn't know about working in a restaurant. PM Press is on my radar now.

[Hilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some merit but also it just sounds like they hated working in the food industry

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, good intro to some leftist ideas. Opened my eyes to what restaurant work is like, and it looks pretty bad. Having my kids read it.

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We are the working class who want to abolish work and class.”

[Lauren McCabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing but needed more… something. Idk