The After Capitalism research has identified three categories of visions of a world in which capitalism is no longer the central organizing socio-economic system. It is entirely plausible – if not a central principle — in all three visions that jobs as we understand them today will no longer play the central role that they do today.
- In Tech-Led Abundance, AI and machine intelligence will do much of the work,
- In Non-Workers Paradise, the political goal will be a redress of inequality that will likely do away with the notion of paid work,
- In the Sustainable Commons, work will be organized differently in a commoning approach that will not require paid jobs.
I’ll ask that you consider this plausible (not inevitable). But it won’t be easy, even if we/society decide that this is a preferred future worth working toward, which we certainly have not yet decided. In an upcoming piece for 21st century skills and jobs for Foresight and & STI Governance, I suggest a post-work future, and included a section on why it will probably take longer than we think. I offer three reasons why:
- work is central to individual’s identity
- work structures daily life
- work is the primary source of income
I’ll go into each separately in upcoming posts – stay tuned. – Andy Hines
[…] try to envision a post-work future, changing how we think of and describe ourselves is not going to be a simple task. Mentions of a […]