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Time to be Lazy

Work, the Environment and Modern Subjectivities

This paper explores the time dimensions - and more specifically busyness and speed - which are at the centre of the triangular relationship between work, the environment and modern subjectivities. It shows how the introduction of clock-time in the workplace constituted the modern individual as a `busy self'. It is also argued that current concerns for the environment are still constituted mainly within the boundaries of the busy self. It is suggested that reducing human activities - i.e. `laziness' - could be a relevant alternative to the entrapments of modernity. For this purpose, the reader will be offered a reinterpretation of Paul Lafargue's 1883 pamphlet, The Right to Be Lazy, in which he advocates a 3-hour working day. The relevance of Lafargue's arguments is examined in relation to the contemporary context.

Key Words: clock-time • environment • laziness • subjectivity • work

Time & Society, Vol. 7, No. 2-3, 193-208 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/0961463X98007002002


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