Books - specific requests

[LiaSofia]

I realise there's another thread in this section which deals with book lists, but I'm looking for a few specific subjects.

Does anyone know of good books (or sections within a book) that talk about these things:

- An ideological case against work. The idea that many types of work are superfluous and that it should be acceptable to refuse to have a job.

- Criticism of theories of economic and/or social competition.

- Something that advocates an alternative to an economy measured by profit and growth.

- Criticism of the education system.


If anyone has suggestions, thank you!

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I realise there's another thread in this section which deals with book lists, but I'm looking for a few specific subjects.

Does anyone know of good books (or sections within a book) that talk about these things:

- An ideological case against work. The idea that many types of work are superfluous and that it should be acceptable to refuse to have a job.

There is Lafargue's seminal The Right to be Lazy (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lafargue/1883/lazy/), although that's not really a book...


- Something that advocates an alternative to an economy measured by profit and growth.

Could you clarify a bit?

[motion denied]

Certainly against work/labor, though the arguments may vary. Bonus points for being against "social-darwinism" and social-competition of the market economy.

http://www.krisis.org/1999/manifesto-against-labour

[BIXX]

If you're looking for some anti-work or anti-labour shit I'd go ahead and read Bob Black's piece "On the Abolition of Work". Bob himself is a piece of shit but I think that writing in particular isn't terrible.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the second request, as it seems like you mean a case against economic competition, which really could be found in any communist economic writing, because communism results in ultimate economic cohesion.

Third point is basically the same as the second, as growth only seems to matter in pre-communist economic systems.

Criticisms of the educational system can be found all over the place. What type of criticisms are you looking for?

[human strike]

For anti-work stuff I recommend Kathi Weeks, Gilles Dauvé, and if you're feeling adventurous, Michael Seidman. Since I'm feeling especially generous, I'll even email you pdfs if you like?

[Comrade Hadrian]

- An ideological case against work. The idea that many types of work are superfluous and that it should be acceptable to refuse to have a job.

You might like Bertrand Russell's "In Praise of Idleness."