Introduction: Why Should Political Theorists Care About Work?

Abstract

Abstract:Even though the future of work has become a significant public concern, political theory has not yet considered work to be a central concept within the discipline. The five papers in this symposium provide a range of perspectives on what it means to take work seriously within political thought. This introduction will give an account of why work should be considered as important by political theorists, contextualize the broader landscape into which these papers intervene (characterized by the issues of automation, precarity, and social reproduction), and situate them within existing writing on work within political theory.