Chapter L’atto del lavoro secondo Robert Heilbroner

Abstract

In The Act of Work (1984) Heilbroner argues that work expresses subordination and its opposite, freedom. Work cannot be described solely in terms of objectively defined tasks, but of subordinately completed tasks. With modern capitalism, the formal freedom not to work is introduced, and it is the end of work based on force. With the development of industrial society, the blackmail of hunger also disappears, because in our society no one is condemned to die of hunger. Therefore capitalism raises the problem of the motivation of work that makes it desirable even though it is no longer essential for life. In this regard Heilbroner lists five main motivations. But if in capitalism it is possible to work with a certain degree of freedom and self-realization, Heilbroner raises the question of whether a a society without work and effortlessly subjugated is conceivable.