Workism
Workism is the belief that employment is not only necessary for economic production but is also the centrepiece of one's identity and life purpose. The term was coined by American journalist Derek Thompson, in a 2019 article for The Atlantic magazine.[1][2][3]
Workism may come across as cult-like because of the burden being put on workists to present themselves in a positive way, use groupthink, have work dictate their relationships and thinking, and chase after a wholesome outcome that could be fictitious. Workism may be experienced as oppressive by both working and non-working people.[3] Workist attitudes may develop in the context of a historically Protestant work culture, or independently as a heuristic bias redeeming hustle culture. Which means that it's part of people trying to redeem the immense sacrifices made to stay in the workforce and advance their careers, rather than the reason they started making those sacrifices.[4] They have also claimed that workism trickled down from the top, for whom this disposition makes more sense.[5]
Workism takes after but is distinct from productivism and producerism. Producerism focuses on the merit of what is being produced, through any means, while workism focuses on the merit of accomplishing, earning something through work. Productivism is like workism, but more easily praises non-work activities, assuming that those non-work activities produce something of tangible value, or lead to it.
Work martyr[edit]
A person who puts work before their own time and health is a work martyr. Work martyrs typically experience going to work as gratifying, outperform others, but may be unable to delegate or unplug from work.[6][7]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Hess, AJ (Apr 4, 2023). "How 'workism' replaced religion". Fast Company. Retrieved Aug 8, 2023.
- ^ Tracinski, Robert (January 31, 2022). "In Defense of "Workism"". Discourse.
- ^ a b Thompson, Derek (February 24, 2019). "Workism Is Making Americans Miserable". The Atlantic.
- ^ Griffith, Erin (2019-01-26). "Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ Lepore, Jill (2021-01-11). "What's Wrong with the Way We Work". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ "5 Warning Signs You Are Becoming A Work Martyr". HuffPost UK. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ Wilding, Melody (2017). "10 Signs That You've Become a 'Work Martyr 'There's a new type of workaholism: the 'work martyr'".
References[edit]
"How I am stepping back from workism to nurture my broader ambitions". www.science.org.
Levs, Josh. "The dangers of "workism"". Strategy+business.
Horton, Adrian (March 31, 2022). "Hustle harder: how TV became obsessed with stories of workism" – via The Guardian.
"Workism Isn't Working | Michael Toscano". First Things.
""Workism" : identité et travail, la pandémie a-t-elle rompu le lien ? | Welcome to the Jungle". www.welcometothejungle.com.
Collins, Luke (February 9, 2023). "The workism con: On Gen Z, quiet quitting, and work-life balance".
Douthat, Ross (January 27, 2023). "Opinion | Is 'Workism' Dooming Civilization? Notes on the New Pew Parents Study" – via NYTimes.com.
DeRose, Lyman Stone, Laurie (May 5, 2021). "What Workism Is Doing to Parents". The Atlantic.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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