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The laziness myth : narratives of work and the good life in South Africa / Christine Jeske.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Jeske, Christine, author.
- Series:
- Cornell scholarship online.
- Cornell scholarship online
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Work ethic--South Africa.
- Work ethic.
- Laziness--South Africa.
- Laziness.
- Work--South Africa--Psychological aspects.
- Work.
- Black people--Employment--South Africa.
- Black people.
- Unemployment--Social aspects--South Africa.
- Unemployment.
- Unemployed--South Africa--Attitudes.
- Unemployed.
- Quality of life--South Africa.
- Quality of life.
- Happiness--South Africa.
- Happiness.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (230 pages)
- Place of Publication:
- Ithaca : ILR Press, 2021.
- Summary:
- When people cannot find good work, can they still find good lives? By investigating this question in the context of South Africa, where only 43 percent of adults are employed, Christine Jeske invites readers to examine their own assumptions about how work and the good life do or do not coincide. 'The Laziness Myth' challenges the widespread premise that hard work determines success by tracing the titular 'laziness myth,' a persistent narrative that disguises the systems and structures that produce inequalities while blaming unemployment and other social ills on the so-called laziness of particular class, racial, and ethnic groups. Jeske offers evidence of the laziness myth's harsh consequences, as well as insights into how to challenge it with other South African narratives of a good life.
- Contents:
- "We want to live a good life" : Introduction
- "They don't want to work": The Laziness Myth
- "You can't understand it" : Employers' Perspectives of the Unemployed
- "I need to respect that person and that person needs to respect me" : The Respect Narrative
- "Hustling is when you try to make a good life" : The Hustling Narrative
- "I'm just a laborer" : The Laborer Narrative
- "I have a good story" : Possibilities
- "Despite the contradictions" : Closing Thoughts.
- Notes:
- Previously issued in print: 2020.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on May 7, 2021).
- ISBN:
- 9781501752520
- 1501752529
- 9781501752506
- 1501752502
- OCLC:
- 1147929289
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