When it comes to work, is less more?  

Our panel discuss whether work is making us bad citizens and unhappy humans. Is there something to be said for being idle? Bertrand Russell wrote that "immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous". In more recent times, organisations from Microsoft to the Wellcome Trust have experimented with a four-day week, and advocates argue that shorter working weeks will solve everything from unemployment to the gender pay gap. Brian O’Connor has recently argued that idleness allows us to be truly free.  

Meet our speakers and chair

Odul Bozkurt (@OdulBozkurt) is Senior Lecturer in International Human Resource Management at the University of Sussex.

Brian O'Connor is Professor of Philosophy at University College Dublin.  

Judy Wajcman (@jwajcman1) is Anthony Giddens Professor of Sociology at LSE.

Sarah Fine (@DrSJFine) is Forum Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at King's College London. 

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shaping the Post-COVID World running from Monday 1 to Saturday 6 March 2021, with a series of events exploring the direction the world could and should be taking after the crisis and how social science research can shape it.

The Forum for Philosophy (@forumphilosophy) is a non-profit organisation that hosts weekly events exploring science, politics, and the arts from a philosophical perspective.

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Not Suitable for Work.

A video of this event is available to watch at Not Suitable for Work.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.