Library:Bullshit Jobs
| Bullshit Jobs: A Theory | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Graeber |
| First published | 2018 |
| ISBN | 978-1-5011-4331-1 |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Business, Finance & Scams |
| Tactics | |
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory is a 2018 book by David Graeber.
Summary
David Graeber, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, published this book in 2018. It grew out of a short essay he published in 2013, which went viral worldwide after striking a nerve with readers who recognized their own work in it. It uses "bullshit" in a different sense from most books here: not false claims, but work that requires pretending.
The definition
Graeber defines a bullshit job as paid employment so completely pointless, unnecessary or harmful that even the person doing it cannot justify its existence, but who feels obliged to pretend otherwise. The element of pretence is essential: the deception lies in maintaining the appearance of usefulness.
The evidence
Graeber drew on a British survey in which more than a third of respondents said their jobs made no meaningful contribution to the world, and on hundreds of testimonies sent to him by readers describing their own pointless work.
Five types
The book identifies five kinds of bullshit job. Flunkies exist to make someone else look important. Goons are employed in roles that exist only because competitors employ them, such as many corporate lawyers and lobbyists. Duct tapers fix problems that should not exist. Box tickers produce paperwork that allows an organization to claim it is doing something it is not. Taskmasters supervise people who do not need supervision or create unnecessary work for others.
The harm
Graeber argues that such work causes real psychological harm, which he calls spiritual violence: the misery of being forced to pretend one's work matters. He also notes a paradox: the most useful jobs, such as caring for others, are often the most poorly paid.
The explanation
He argues that the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted in 1930 that technology would bring a fifteen-hour working week, and asks why it never arrived. His answer is political rather than economic: work became a moral value in itself, and organizations developed a form of "managerial feudalism" in which having subordinates is a mark of status.
Debate
The book's claims have been challenged. Later studies using large European survey data found that far fewer workers, around five percent, regarded their jobs as useless, and that such feelings were linked more to poor management than to particular kinds of jobs.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The book extends the idea of bullshit from statements to institutions: organizations that maintain appearances at odds with reality. It is a reminder that the site's subject includes institutional pretence, not only false claims, and the debate over its evidence shows how even a widely shared intuition needs data.