The Scarcity of Labour

With the progress of digitalisation and the evolution of AI, there are widespread warnings of mass job losses. At the same time, governments and industry are constantly complaining of labour shortages, are unable to fill positions, and the care sector is on the brink of collapse.

In The Scarcity of Labour, sociologist Florian Butollo looks into this paradox, analysing why automation actually produces more labour – this sowing the seeds of a new social conflict: the burgeoning era of labour shortages is marked by labour forces struggling to keep up with an increased workload, and their struggles against this. At the same time, this situation reframes the question of the meaningfulness of work: in light of the current social and ecological crises, to what ends do we want to use our labour power – and which activities could we allow to disappear?