The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time

by Matthew Fox

A popular spiritualist and radical priest detects a pervasive malaise resulting from our modern attitude toward work and its relationship to life and proposes a new spiritual foundation for work rooted in the unity of all things

Genres: Spirituality, Business, Nonfiction, Sociology, Reference, Philosophy, Religion

342 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Timothy James "Matthew " Fox is an American priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Catholic Church, he became a member of the Episcopal Church following his expulsion from the order in 1993.
Fox has written 35 books that have been translated into 68 languages and have sold millions of copies and by the mid-1990s had attracted a "huge and diverse following"

Reviews

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed this a while back and had this to say about it: This is an interesting overview of what works means and what its purpose is. It draws from a variety of cultures and traditions and explores an alternate to "working for a living".

Where you are in life influences how you react to books; this is my review of it based on a more recent reading:

I found this a deeply healing book. The author is inspired by Christian mystics, the Tao Te Ching, and the Bhagavad Gita to look at work as a calling and to enlarge our view of the purpose of work. He is a priest who was formally dismissed by the Dominican order because of his radical views and his writing is compassionate and open-minded.

My favorite quote from the book:

Somewhere there is an ancian enmity
between our daily life and the great work.
Help me, in saying it, to understand it.
Rainer Maria Rilke

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tone is much more religious/spiritual than I had expected. That doesn't bother me personally, but I know it may bother some. Some of his tangents are a bit out-there, but the underlying concepts are good for the most part.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a young man in the 1990s while working at a resort in Alaska. It gave me some helpful ideas about What I wanted my life to look like and how I might be of service to other people. I thought it might be fun to reflect on this book the midst of a pandemic when millions are losing work and it may be unclear what work is for. I think the generative and communitarian aspects of work are important, as are the environmental and spiritual components. Being in relationship with other humans in ways that aren’t exploitative but are life-giving are some ideas I take away from Fox 25 years later.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is dated and in places naive and silly, but nevertheless offers a value perspective on the meaning of work. What is resonating with me now is the strangeness and perversity of the concept of unemployment. Nothing in nature is unemployed. Even though I often joke about my cats being unemployed, they may actually be more fully employed than I am.

[Alycia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Puts forward a few ideas for consideration including a sabbatical schedule for the general population which I found compelling. Unfortunately this was drowned out by the chanting and dance circles (Tip: if the teenaged surfers on a beach get out of the water to watch your dance circle it is most definitely NOT because they’re drawn to the spiritual that’s lacking in their lives. [eye roll])

[Doni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sermon-y.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author lost me in the second chapter, as soon as he proposed that his new paradigm involved a universe that did not operate according to natural laws, but by "habits;" that is, "evolving patterns of behavior born of repetition by trial and error."

While I do believe that there is a reality that can't be grasped by rational thought, I can't disregard hundreds of years of scientific research in the name of a new paradigm. It's statements like these that give religion little credibility among scientists.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are some good ideas in here, but this book is littered with nonsense. Someone could probably make a good book out of this my taking about about half of the words. But honestly a the valuable content would be a short essay on how self-motivation is good for everyone, and that we ought to help each other by removing the barriers that keep our fellow humans from working on what they love. (or maybe a single sentence rather than a short essay)

On principle, I don't burn books, but I did dump this in the paper recycling.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been struggling for so many years with the possibility of living a meaningful and abundant life while seeing so much soulless work around me. This is my favourite book by Matthew Fox, a book with so much wonderful food-for-thought about the nature of work and the role it plays in our lives. This is one of those books that changed my life.

[Ann M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this one didn't live up to my expectations.

[Jj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by my brother-in-law who was working hard on his own changes at the time. Greg is now gone but I remember how much he valued the content of Fox's work.

[Trace Lara Hentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do wish more people had read this book and followed its wisdom!