Shadow Work
The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your Day
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- USD 11.99
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- USD 11.99
Descripción editorial
With the exception of sleep, humans spend more of their lifetimes on work than any other activity. It is central to our economy, society, and the family. It underpins our finances and our sense of meaning in life. Given the overriding importance of work, we need to recognize a profound transformation in the nature of work that is significantly altering lives: the incoming tidal wave of shadow work.
Shadow work includes all the unpaid tasks we do on behalf of businesses and organizations. It has slipped into our routines stealthily; most of us do not realize how much of it we are already doing, even as we pump our own gas, scan and bag our own groceries, execute our own stock trades, and build our own unassembled furniture. But its presence is unmistakable, and its effects far–reaching.
Fueled by the twin forces of technology and skyrocketing personnel costs, shadow work has taken a foothold in our society. Lambert terms its prevalence as "middle–class serfdom," and examines its sources in the invasion of robotics, the democratization of expertise, and new demands on individuals at all levels of society. The end result? A more personalized form of consumption, a great social leveling (pedigrees don't help with shadow work!), and the weakening of communities as robotics reduce daily human interaction.
Shadow Work offers a field guide to this new phenomenon. It shines a light on these trends now so prevalent in our daily lives and, more importantly, offers valuable insight into how to counter their effects. It will be essential reading to anyone seeking to understand how their day got so full—and how to deal with the ubiquitous shadow work that surrounds them.
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In this insightful work, former Harvard Magazine deputy editor Lambert (Mind Over Water) examines how people spend their time, pointing out just how much is taken up with "shadow work": tasks that people perform on their own behalf for free, often via automated tools, that used to be outsourced to paid workers. He writes that "most of us do not recognize or realize how much of it we are doing, even as we pump our own gas, scan and bag our own groceries, execute our own stock trades, and assemble our Ikea furniture." To Lambert's mind, automation has actually chipped away at leisure time, as well as human contact and personal service. Though Lambert raises good points about the effect of shadow work on social interaction, observing that it "can make people more self-sufficient, while at the same time sealing them off in silos," there's occasionally a reactionary, alarmist tinge to his comments as he yearns for the good old days. By exposing this phenomenon, Lambert may help readers become more aware of their choices and opportunities. His observations are both illuminating and disturbing, and well worth considering.
