Just Work

by Russell Muirhead

Just Work shows what it would mean for work to make good on the high promise so often invested in it and suggests what we - both as a society and as individuals - might do when it falls short.

Genres: Sociology, Philosophy

Paperback

First published October 15, 2004

About the author

Russell Muirhead is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College and the author of The Promise of Party in a Polarized Age and Just Work. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Emily Goodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muirhead’s book argues a great point of what “just” work is. Utilizing old philosopher’s beliefs on the subject, Muirhead explains why society views work the way we do today. Muirhead also tries to distinguish for his readers the need for one to contribute to society versus their need for self fulfillment.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought this book was an excellent critique of critiques of work, particularly Friedan's the Femimine Mystique. I liked the double meaning of the title- Just Work- as in work that is just, and Just Work, as in, it is just my crappy job. i don't think Muirhead refers to the second meaning.

I really liked this quote. I think it says so much and sums up the book beautifully.

"Work does not “give” dignity to our lives through the excellence or happiness it fosters. The dignity of work comes less from its ideal promise than from the way we show, through it, a determination to endure what is difficult for the sake of discharging our responsibilities and contributing to society. It is less the source of our happiness than the illustration that we deserve happiness. Through work we reveal our tough minded commitment in the face of conditions that cannot bend exactly to our will. When this commitment brings a partial triumph over an unaccommodating world, work illuminates something of the dignity that resides in us independent of the character of our work. It expresses a kind of defiance, for we willfully ignore the ultimate resistance of a world we yet try to shape. Thus work reveals, though it cannot produce, the dignity of those who take their condition to be at least partly of their own making."

this quote is very inspiring and hopeful for everyoone who has to get up and go to work tomorrow.

[Margaret Muirhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book! Just some lite academic reading for when you're in the mood for some political philosophizing!

[Lori Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

An optional-read book on work-life balance as you manage your career.