Abstract
The original title for this book was ‘Should life all labour be?’ Tennyson’s evocative summation of the duality that work has always represented in our lives: recognized for its sustaining necessity but at the same time resented for its dominance. It could be argued that, historically, the prevailing work ethic in society has striven to enhance the former meaning and diminish the latter and, in the introduction to this book we noted that, in recent government economic and social policy, we can discern the constituents of a new work ethic for our time. The repeated theme that full citizenship and personal fulfilment are only attainable through participation in paid work has elevated the concept of work centrality, the philosophical importance in people’s lives of the work they do, beyond the somewhat confined circles of academic discourse and into the area of policy.
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© 2007 Chris Baldry, Jeff Hyman, Phil Taylor, Peter Bain, Dora Scholarios, Abigail Marks, Aileen Watson, Kay Gilbert, Gregor Gall and Dirk Bunzel
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Baldry, C. et al. (2007). Back to the Future? Change and Continuity at Work. In: The Meaning of Work in the New Economy. The Future of Work Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230210646_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230210646_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-51710-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-21064-6
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