The article is about the research in the field of philosophy and sociology of labor. The main point of the research is the concept of anthropologist D. Graeber about the phenomenon of “bullshit” jobs as the result of neoliberal capitalism development. There are the classification of useless jobs and it is shown that this type of jobs paid more than useful, meaningful and socially significant work despite of its empty and economic disadvantage. Bullshit jobs are the different types of imitative employment which are ideological and political functioned because they make the economy wasteful. The key factor for the identification of bullshit job is subjective, it means that worker understand that his work useless but continue to do it. Graeber proposes the classification of bullshit jobs: flunkies, cutthroats, crutches, tick marks, supervisors. As well the author introduce the notion “managerial feudalism” which describes the modern structure of the labor market. Managerialism inherits the structure of hierarchical social relations of the feudalist times with their transfer to the field of labor/corporate relations where hierarchy for the sake of hierarchy becomes the basis of the organizational structure of enterprises, firms and companies. The paradox of neoliberal capitalism consist of the situation when enterprises and firms have economic opportunities paid for the bullshit jobs this contradicts to the main economic order “minimax” (minimizing costs, maximizing profits). According to Graeber, the problem of contemporary society can be solved by the introduction of Universal Basic Income which can be the economic “safety cushion” for the people and let not to make choices in favor of the bullshit jobs for survival. It is shown in our article that economic and social life in USSR embody in practice the idea of Universal Basic Income. That’s why it is possible to say that bullshit jobs didn’t exist in socialist world model unlike contemporary neoliberal capitalism.
Translated title of the contributionФЕНОМЕН БРЕДОВЫХ РАБОТ, И СУЩЕСТВОВАЛА ЛИ БЕСПОЛЕЗНАЯ РАБОТА В СССР?
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)28-36
JournalКОНФЛИКТОЛОГИЯ
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

ID: 103447168