Free online course
The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries.
This project is meant to engender thinking about and discussions of social issues, which are inherently intersectional. “Work” is both a societal construct and a personal, lived experience, that is affected by race, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, family history, and more. Our mission is to disrupt inherited and internalized notions of work and value, and thereby empower ourselves and others in our ongoing work to dismantle systems of oppression.
The course
This is a free, recurring event, open to anyone who wishes to participate. We call it a “course” because that is a recognizable format, but we aren’t really “teaching” anything; we are creating a space and facilitating discussion and learning so that people can read, understand, and build upon the book. We aren’t experts; we have just read it before and have experience leading discussion groups. We won’t lie: This book is difficult (graduate level). But we’re here to help, with a detailed syllabus, notes and explanations, and discussion/reflection questions.
THE BOOK
Please support your local indie bookstore, especially those that have social missions, are owned by people of historically-marginalized groups, etc. If you absolutely must, you can give the world’s first centibillionaire (who is, not coincidentally, a cis straight white man) more of your money here. We believe it is ethical for you to purchase the book, if you are able to, in order to pay Kathi Weeks for her labor; however, we want to make this course completely free, so if you are unable to afford the hard copy, a PDF is also available online here.
The Zine
We’ve started a zine, Postwork imaginaries: feminist musings on a future without workism, to collect reflections and responses to the course.
Some of the participants in Session #1 (Summer 2020) — sadly not everyone is shown here! See our directory to meet participants: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wp2cGoJqQHtnWpufSQaG9aWqwYisrjxzessnnTmDIao/edit?usp=sharing
what it is
Each session (full reading of the book) runs for 3 months (next session: Jan-March 2021)
Receive the course syllabus, which includes explanatory notes, optional supplemental reading, & definitions of key people & concepts
Read approximately 20-30 pages every week for 12 weeks
Discuss every week in online video meeting
who we are
Valerie met Laila and Holiday when they were all getting master’s degrees in Library & Information Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Now, Holiday is the Librarian for Health and Social Services at the University of Chicago, and Laila is a Reference Librarian at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. Kiyo is Valerie’s fiancé and the Director of Finance at a biometrics startup.
Valerie was introduced to the book when she first read it for a Political Science graduate course (called Feminist Theory) in 2017. We four first read the book together February - May 2020. We each wanted to encourage more people to read this book and consider its concepts, but we also recognized that it had been challenging for us, so others may find it challenging, as well. Therefore, we decided to offer to act as facilitators or guides for others interested in learning more about Weeks’ feminist provocations.