Theoretical background of the formation of the “post-work society” concept

The article presents the result of a study of the theoretical prerequisites for the formation of the concept of “post-work society”. Studies of this concept seem to be relevant in connection with the progressing worldwide labor crisis associated with the instability of the labor market and the growth of unemployment rates around the world. The labor crisis, caused by the economic crises of recent decades, as well as the latest crisis associated with the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic, is setting the stage for a shift towards the post- work world, the ideological core of which is the concept of a “post-work society”. The author of the article finds the origins of the formation of this concept in the ideas of ancient philosophers. However, the concept of “post-work society” was only formed at the end of the 19th century among left intellectuals. The formation of this concept, according to the author of the article, will be due to the disastrous social situation of the working class. The concept of “post-work society”, which is in line with the anti-capitalist ideas of the 19th and 20th centuries, nevertheless does not find wide support in socialist circles of its time, since the official position of the socialist parties in many states recognizes wage labor and the working class as the unshakable foundations of socialist societies. Further, the article examines the current stage of development of the theory of the concept of “post-work society”. The filling of the concept with new meanings and ideas at the present stage is associated by the author of the article with the economic crises of recent decades and the development of European left politics, when many post-capitalist concepts are being developed. In one of the modern works, this concept is even proposed as a new political project of the left movement. At the end of the article, a generalization is made and the theoretical foundations of the concept under consideration, inherent in many post-work theories, are highlighted.