Working Sovereign

Axel Honneth is Jack B. Weinstein Professor of the Humanities at the Department of Philosophy of Columbia University.

“In our age of political polarization and rising authoritarianism, Axel Honneth makes a powerful and original case for re-centring work as a site for the development of the skills, motivations and broader sympathies needed to revitalize democracy. Empowering workers in cooperative settings, enriching workers’ experience of work and enhancing the respect accorded to all occupations are vital tasks not only for improving workers’ individual lives but for deepening democratic possibilities.”Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan“The now copious literature on the crisis of democracy is very attentive to the political processes of deliberation and largely inattentive to the relationship between the growth of poverty and the shift from stable employment to the normalization of precarious labour relations. Bringing labour back to the centre of democracy is the valuable contribution of this illuminating book, which reminds us that democratic citizens are workers and that there is a mutual dependence between democratic participation and sufficiently good working conditions.”Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University“With characteristic intellectual rigour, Axel Honneth revives the critical importance of work for democracy. His persuasive arguments for the kind of work able to sustain democratic systems are fresh and urgent. Essential reading for anyone concerned with how the future of work impacts the future of democracy.”Ruth Yeoman, Kellogg College, University of Oxford“By resuming reflection on the relationship between democratic demand and fairness in labour relations, Axel Honneth is not only breathing new life into a critique of capitalism which seemed out of breath: he also renews the moral and social foundations on which a progressive politics can be reconstructed. An essential book for our time.”Luc Boltanski, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris“A thoughtfully constructed argument in favor of work worth doing, and of workers treated as human beings.” Kirkus Reviews“Honneth outlines how to measure the well-being of wage workers: that they should earn enough to enjoy a measure of independence; that they should have time to spare; that they should be recognised for the value of their work; and that they should have opportunities for self-improvement. It’s a tall order, but his astonishing conclusion is that “working conditions are significantly worse now than they were 50 or 60 years ago”.”Robert Colls, New Statesman

• Preliminary Remarks I. Normative Beginnings: Labour in Democratic Society1. Three Resources for a Critique of Contemporary Labour Relations2. A Forgotten Tradition3. Democracy and the Question of a Fair Division of LabourExcursus I: On the Concept of Social LabourII. Historical Interlude: The Reality of Social Labour4. A Spotlight on the Nineteenth Century5. From 1900 to the Threshold of the Present6. The Capitalist World of Work TodayExcursus II: On the Concept of the Social Division of Labour Part III: The Political Struggle for the Future of Social Labour7. The Politics of Labour8. Alternatives to the Labour Market9. Improvements to the Labour MarketNotesIndex