Decline of the Centrality of Work? Critique of a Contemporary Ideology

Ricardo Antunes is an author who is still relatively little known in the mainstream sociological scene, although he may be defined him the ‘lucid narrator’ of the ‘cataclysm’ that has swept through wage labour, during the era of (neo)liberal globalisation of capitalist social relations. This review essays presents three of his important works Adeus ao trabalho? Ensaio sobre as metamorfoses e a centralidade do mundo do trabalho (Goodbye to work? The transformations and centrality of work in globalisation), published by Cortez, in 1995, and his much more recent, but equally important works are O privilégio da servidão: o novo proletariado de serviço na era digital (The new service proletariat in the digital age) and Coronavìrus: o trabalho sob fogo cruzado (Coronavirus: work under fire), published by Boitempo, respectively in 2018 and 2020.