06: Alienation and Work

Published: April 7, 2021, 3:04 p.m.

Jeff and Jonathan discuss Marx's idea of alienation, and try to better understand it by sidestepping theory to talk more about Dairy Queen. They explore questions like: What kind of work is meaningful? What deprives us of pride in our work? Does modern work interfere with the best parts of being human?  Is management theory itself evidence alienation or does it aim to alleviate it? Are metrics part of the problem or a cure? Are we more mind or body, and what role does our "creatureliness" play in shaping meaning in our lives? 

Want to chime in? Email us at: subjectsinprocesspodcast@gmail.com 


Show Notes: 

"The end of life hacking" (Laura Miller): https://slate.com/culture/2019/06/life-hacking-productivity-tech-silicon-valley-hacking-life-book-review.html 

"Goals Gone Wild" (Ordóñez et al.): https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/09-083.pdf 

"Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey" (Locke & Latham): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11152729_Building_a_practically_useful_theory_of_goal_setting_and_task_motivation_-_A_35-year_odyssey 


Music: 

Theme Music: "What u Thinkin? (Instrumental)" by Wataboi on Pixabay 

Intermission Music: "Future Ambient" by BeachVibes-Music on Pixabay