Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Comparative Literature
Advisor
Bettina Lerner
Keywords
idleness, work, leisure, punk
Abstract
As our leisure time has increased in the twenty-first century, paradoxically, so too have social and cultural expectations about the nature and value of work. In this thesis, I argue that work in the modern world has taken on new shapes – the project of identity formation, image maintenance, and receptiveness to advertising – and how these new forms of work are fundamentally intertwined with leisure. I first aim to establish a timeline of Western attitudes to work, beginning with the works of Max Weber, Jon D. Wisman, and Matthew E. Davis. Then, through the lens of the 1970s punk movement, I show how these attitudes have progressed from aspiration to dejection and resentment. Through texts by Lewis Hyde and Jenny Odell, I present idleness as distinct not only from work, but from its capitalist counterpart, leisure, and argue for an adoption of idleness as a means of self- and cultural preservation.
Recommended Citation
Sanchez, Lea S., "The Problem of Leisure: A Modern History of Work and Idleness" (2021). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4585