`Author:` Amelia Horgan `Availability:` [[Available Books]] ## Summary The book critiques the prevailing assumption that work is automatically fulfilling, stable and rewarding. Horgan argues that under contemporary capitalism work increasingly brings precarity, alienation and anxiety.  ## Key Takeaways Horgan’s central claim is that the problem is not just “bad jobs” but the very nature of work under capitalism: the lack of worker control, the precariousness, the subordination of personal life and the myth of meritocracy. She emphasises that meaningful change requires worker agency and collective power.  1. **Defining work & its myths** – Horgan examines how the narrative “work hard, get paid, succeed” no longer holds for many.  2. **How capitalism shapes work** – She situates modern labour within capitalist structures: insecure contracts, outsourced tasks, the shift from production to service, and the demands of constant development.  3. **Impact on individuals** – Work affects our autonomy, well-being and identity. Horgan shows how lack of control and the necessity to work (rather than freely choose it) erodes freedom.  4. **Broader societal effects** – The book discusses how unpaid or low-recognised work (such as care, domestic labour) is undervalued, and how “jobification” permeates leisure and personal life.  5. **Resistance and alternatives** – Horgan explores collective organising (trade unions, worker power) and individual acts of refusal as routes to reshape work and reclaim time and autonomy.  ## Quotes - ## Notes > [!info] > ![[ lost in work by Amelia Horgan.jpg]] `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:` [[Books index]] ## Highlights