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Self-Care and the Refusal of Work

Self-Care and the Refusal of Work. Dr. David Frayne fraynedm@hotmail.co.uk. A Study of Anti-Work Subjectivities. Participant observation and ‘slow’ in-depth interviews with subjects resisting work A range of extremities – from shorter working hours to voluntary joblessness

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Self-Care and the Refusal of Work

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  1. Self-Care and the Refusal of Work Dr. David Frayne fraynedm@hotmail.co.uk

  2. A Study of Anti-Work Subjectivities • Participant observation and ‘slow’ in-depth interviews with subjects resisting work • A range of extremities – from shorter working hours to voluntary joblessness • A range of interlinked reasons – • More time for family / voluntary work / freely chosen activities • Escaping work that was unchallenging, unpleasant or unethical • Health problems Web Link: http://orca.cf.ac.uk/18497/1/2011FrayneDPhD.pdf

  3. Medicalisation as a Condition for Support • To be socially acceptable, [a] cry for help must take the form of an organic disorder – exogenous and independent of the patient’s will. You would have no chance at all of getting your boss or supervisor to listen to you if you said ‘I can’t go on; I’m losing sleep, my appetite, my interest in sex; I don’t have energy for anything anymore. Give me a week off.’ To be acceptable, your “I can’t go on” must take the form of a somatic difficulty, of some impeachment beyond your control – in short, an illness justifying a medical exemption. André Gorz, Ecology as Politics (p.174)

  4. Question: • What happens when those who feel too unwell to work don’t perceive themselves as having an allopathically treatable organic disorder, or as being ‘disabled’?

  5. Lucy: Opting Out • Suffered from what in medical terms might be described as ‘agoraphobia’ • Lucy says, ‘I’m happy as I am’ • Has chosen not to try and claim ESA, but to live frugally, on what little money she has • For Lucy, it is the demands of full-time working that are ‘abnormal’

  6. Bruce: Pain as a Signal • “I started to get all of these pains and spasms and twitches, I couldn’t sleep, I started to get joint pain, inflammation all over my body, diarrhoea, bowel problems, vision problems, hearing problems. It was just like my body was saying to me ”enough, enough is enough… I can’t take this level of emotional disturbance any more, I can’t take this stress you’re putting me through’. And the body was - in my view now – was being very kind to me in shouting. I hadn’t been listening so my body just shouted”. - Bruce

  7. Bruce: Playing the ESA Game • “A lot of the time I was pacing around crying, clinging to my mother’s side. I planned a suicide attempt [stifled laughter] – yeah, I was in a real mess. But I’m not interested in staying sick, I really wanna get well and I really wanna make the most of my life, so I’m not interested in making a career outta this… but I know the system is geared towards not giving people the support they need, so I knew I was gonna have to do a bit of over-egging and a bit of acting, which in itself is very stressful” • “I knew I wasn’t fit for work, so there was no moral dilemma there. I think the system’s immoral, not me”

  8. Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Our Work-Centred Society

  9. A Very Moral Rebellion • Might we be inspired by the values of people who resist work? • Today’s example: Self-Care as one of the highest callings in life • Evidence of a resistance to work that is more enlightened, more appealing, and more ‘mainstream’ than academic and political discourses have given credit

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