Work and labor books
Work and labor books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
The Wealth of Nations
Adam SmithIntroduces the division of labour and the pin factory example that later writers built on.
The Division of Labour in Society
Émile DurkheimArgues that modern societies hold together through interdependence between specialized workers.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
Max WeberExamines how ideas about calling and steady work fed into modern capitalist attitudes to labor.
The Principles of Scientific Management
Frederick Winslow TaylorSets out time-and-motion methods for managing workers, a blueprint for later industrial control.
Capital Volume I
Karl MarxAnalyzes wage labor, surplus value and the conditions of factory work in industrial Britain.
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More work and labor books
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- The Condition of the Working Class in England.
The Condition of the Working Class in England.Friedrich Engels - Labor and Monopoly Capital
Labor and Monopoly CapitalHarry Braverman - Working
WorkingStuds Terkel - Manufacturing Consent
Manufacturing ConsentMichael Burawoy - The Managed Heart
The Managed HeartArlie Russell Hochschild - The Corrosion of Character
The Corrosion of CharacterRichard Sennett - Nickel and Dimed
Nickel and DimedBarbara Ehrenreich - The Precariat
The PrecariatGuy Standing - The Problem With Work
The Problem With WorkKathi Weeks - Bullshit Jobs
Bullshit JobsDavid Graeber2018 - The happiness advantage
The happiness advantageShawn Achor2010 - The fifth discipline
The fifth disciplinePeter Senge1990