The Politics of Time cover art

The Politics of Time

Gaining Control in the Age of Uncertainty

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Politics of Time

By: Guy Standing
Narrated by: Kerry Hutchinson
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.06

Buy Now for £12.06

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

How does a person organize a good life? The ancient Greeks divided time into five types: labour, work, leisure, play and aergia (contemplation). But labour was separated from work, as painful, onerous work undertaken for survival, whereas work could include caring for family members, study, or political activities. But now our jobs are supposed to provide all meaning in life and our time outside of work is thought of as simply 'time off'.

Time has been political throughout history. In the Industrial Era employers sought to define labour as virtuous, and in our current era of runaway neoliberalism, salaried workers find their mental health plummeting, public services are stretched to breaking point and inequality is soaring, while the time of those in insecure employment is being stolen from them in increasingly byzantine and humiliating ways.

We must recognize that time is political, a resource more precious than money, that must be defended at all costs, and revive ancient forms of tending ourselves, the planet and each other, through commoning. We can retake control of our time, but we must do it together.

©2023 Guy Standing (P)2023 Penguin Audio Career Success Economics Time Management & Productivity Capitalism Career Business Economic disparity Time Management Socialism Taxation Employment Economic Inequality
All stars
Most relevant
This book is infuriating, enlightening, hopeful, and devastatingly important. Guy Standing has spent decades of his career studying economics and developing the ideas around income inequality and what we need to do about it. In this book, he takes us on a journey through the modern economic trap that has ensnared so many of us, myself included.
This is a book which manages to be utterly shocking without being sensationalist, depressing without being gloomy, and hopeful without being simplistic. A profoundly important work that distills a deep understanding of modern economics into clear, unambiguous, unemotional language for the lay reader.
I am surprised that there are no other books by Guy Standing on audible. As soon as there are, I will buy them.
Also, the reading is great - crisp, professionally produced, flawlessly edited, great sound quality, and just the right tone for a serious but not overly self-important book.
More by Guy Standing please!

More by this author please

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.