Towards a life with more free time: Review of the book ‘After work’.

Abstract

After Work: A History of the Home and the Struggle for Leisure by Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek (2024, Black Box, 283 pages) explores the centrality of work in our lives and the possibilities of a post-work future. From a critical perspective, the authors highlight the limitations of proposals that reduce only the hours of paid work without addressing the burden of unpaid reproductive work, which falls mainly on women. Organised into six sections, the book covers topics such as the impact of technology on the household, social norms, family structures, urban spaces, and culminates in a proposal to reorganise leisure time and reproductive work under a cooperative model. With an accessible approach and coherent argumentation, Hester and Srnicek invite us to imagine a world where work no longer determines identity and economic stability, opening up new possibilities for revaluing human life beyond productivity.