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The Abolition of Work

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The Abolition of Work and Other Essays
AuthorBob Black
Cover artistDonna Kossy
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCritique of work
GenreSocial criticism
Published1986
PublisherLoompanics
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN0-915179-41-5
OCLC15135277

"The Abolition of Work" is an essay written by Bob Black in 1985. It was part of Black's first book, an anthology of essays entitled The Abolition of Work and Other Essays published by Loompanics Unlimited.[1] It is an exposition of Black's "type 3 anarchism" – a blend of post-Situationist theory and individualist anarchism – focusing on a critique of the work ethic.[2]

Black, pictured reading in 2011

Influence

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"The Abolition of Work" was a significant influence on futurist and design critic Bruce Sterling, who at the time was a leading cyberpunk science fiction author and called it "one of the seminal underground documents of the 1980s".[3] The essay's critique of work formed the basis for the anti-labor faction in Sterling's 1988 novel Islands in the Net.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Black, Bob (1986). The Abolition of Work and Other Essays. Port Townsend: Loompanics Unlimited. ISBN 0-915179-41-5.
  2. ^ Porton, Richard (1999). Film and the Anarchist Imagination. London: Verso. pp. 166–172. ISBN 1-85984-261-5.
  3. ^ a b McCaffery, Larry (1991). "Bruce Sterling". Across the Wounded Galaxies. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 217. ISBN 0-252-06140-3.

Further reading

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External audio
audio icon The Abolition of Work, a free mp3 recording from the Audio Anarchy project. Part of the Anti-Work Essays series.