[Linganth] Claudia Strauss on her book, What Work Means

[Ilana Gershon]

Dear Colleagues,
Claudia Strauss answers Carrie Lane's questions about her new book,
What Work Means: Beyond the Puritan Ethic.
See the interview at CaMP anthropology blog,

campanthropology.org

Best,
Ilana

Press blurb: *What Work Means* goes beyond the stereotypes and captures the
diverse ways Americans view work as a part of a good life. Dispelling the
notion of Americans as obsessive workaholics, Claudia Strauss presents a
more nuanced perspective. While some live to work, others prefer a diligent
9-to-5 work ethic that is conscientious but preserves time for other
interests. Her participants often enjoyed their jobs without making work
the focus of their life. These findings challenge laborist views of waged
work as central to a good life as well as post-work theories that treat
work solely as exploitative and soul-crushing.

Drawing upon the evocative stories of unemployed Americans from a wide
range of occupations, from day laborers to corporate managers, both
immigrant and native-born, Strauss also explores how diverse Americans
think about accepting financial support from family, friends, and the
state, gendered meanings of breadwinning, and what the ever-elusive
American dream means to them. By considering how post-Fordist unemployment
experiences diverge from joblessness earlier, *What Work Means* paves the
way for a historically and culturally informed discussion of meanings of
work in a future of teleworking, greater automation, and increasing
nonstandard employment.
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