The end of work : theological critiques of capitalism / John Hughes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hughes, John, 1978-2014.

Series:

Illuminations--theory and religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Capitalism.

Work--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Work.

Labor--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Labor.

Utility theory.

Marx, Karl, 1818-1883.

Marx, Karl.

Physical Description:

xii, 247 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2007.

Summary:

The End of Work explores the 'problem of labour' from a theological perspective. Addressing both theologians concerned with how Christianity might engage in social criticism, as well as secular philosophers and political theorists, this book explores the connection between Marxist and Radical Christian Romantic traditions.

Surveying twentieth-century theologies of work and contrasting various approaches to the topic, this book looks at the relationship between divine and human work, explores debates about labour under capitalism, and, through a thorough reading of Weber's Protestant Work Ethic, argues that the triumph of the 'spirit of utility' is crucial to understanding modern notions of work. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romantic and Catholic writers are then drawn upon to resist this with an alternative theo-aesthetic vision of the redemption of work as ultimately liturgical.

Contents:

Twentieth-century theologies of work : Karl Barth, Marie-Dominique Chenu, John Paul II and Miroslav Volf

Utility as the spirit of capitalism : Max Weber's diagnosis of modern work

Labour, excess and utility in Karl Marx : the problem of materialism and the aesthetic

John Ruskin and William Morris : an alternative tradition : labour and the theo-aesthetic in English Romantic critiques of capitalism

The Frankfurt school : the critique of instrumental reason and hints of return to the theo-aesthetic within Marxism

The end of work : rest, beauty and liturgy : the Catholic metaphysical critique of the culture of work and its incorporation into the English Romantic tradition : Josef Pieper, Jacques Maritain, Eric Gill and David Jones

Concluding remarks : labour, utility and theology.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [233]-240) and index.

ISBN:

9781405158923

1405158921

9781405158930

140515893X

OCLC:

85443875

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description