WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly

Considering "pathologies of work" in the context of a historico-normative reconstruction of the meaning of work as social cooperation, the paper intends to establish a connection between a number of different problems. These include the continued existence of exploitation and alienation as well as the precariousness of work and long-term unemployment. Borrowing a phrase from Hegel, work is conceived as "sharing, participating or partaking in the universal resources of society," where "resources" include wealth as well as competencies. The above-mentioned pathologies of work can then be understood as different ways of refusing or preventing participation in these "universal resources."