Political Economy of Work

David A. Spencer is Senior Lecturer in Economics at Leeds University Business School.

• 1 Introduction, 2 In the sweat of thy brow: concepts of work in pre-classical and classical economics, 3 Work contra the classical economists: pro-work sentiments in the late eighteenth century and nineteenth century, 4 The Marxian view of work, 5 From pain cost to opportunity cost: the eclipse of the quality of work as a factor in economic theory, 6 Institutional perspectives on work, 7 Mainstream economics and the hidden abode of production, 8 Conclusion

"A short review cannot do justice to the quality and the depth of this important book about how economics and its critics treat the subject of work. The basic theme is that while romantics, radicals, and revolutionaries wanted to transform the nature of work, mainstream economists treated it as nothing more than the absence of leisure. Spencer discusses the perspectives of a broad range of critics of classical political economy who emphasized that work could be enjoyable... An extraordinary amount of information is packed into this readable volume. It will be especially useful to students who want a short introduction to the attitudes toward work represented by key historical figures." M. Perelman, California State University, Chico, Choice"This book raises fundamental issues around the political economy of work. It does so through comprehensive command of, and yet judicious critical selection from, appropriate contributions from the history of economic thought and radical political economy. As such, it offers an invaluable contribution to the study of work, going beyond current alternatives in both mainstream economics and other subjects such as human resource management."Ben Fine, Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and author of Social Capital Versus Social Theory (2001), The World of Consumption (2002) and co-author of From Political Economy to Economics (2008). "... The book challenges us to create alternative systems of production and different ways of thinking about work and will be of interest not only to economists and social scientists interested in work, but also to anyone interested challenging the scientific status-quo."Abby Shenbaum Train, New Mexico State University The Social Science Journal, 2009