My Job, My Self: Work and the Creation of the Modern Individual

by Al Gini

Book Overview

In My Job My Self, Gini plumbs a wide range of statistics, interviews with workers, surveys from employers and employees, and his own experiences and memories, to explore why we work, how our work affects us, and what we will become as a nation of workers. My Job, My Self speaks to every employed person who has yet to understand the costs and challenges of a lifetime of labor.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 041592636X
• ISBN13: 9780415926362
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Our Relationship with Work - How It Shapes Us and Our Seach for Meaning

An enlightening analysis of the relationship between us and our jobs. How our jobs are, or should be, more than just about providing a paycheck. Our longing for meaning, for the job that would be an expression of who we are, but that rarely, if ever, finds expression in our lives. The discussion in the book is mostly descriptive than prescriptive, except for the part where the future of work is discussed. Reading this book will give you a new appreciation for work, how it fits into our lives, and how it unavoidably shapes our selves. It will also validate many of the feelings that you might have had about work, including the need to find self-expression and meaning in whatever work we end up doing.

Understanding the origins of work inner dimension...

Why do we work? What we do expect from work? What do we get from work? Is the nature of work changing along with the economic and social changes affecting all of us? The topic is relevant to anyone and the perspective taken by Al Gini (member of the Department of Philosophy and the Institute of Human Resources and Industrial Relations at Loyola University Chicago) is at the same time academic and wide ranging for the general reader referencing from subjects such as psychology, history, popular literature and economics. This book stimulates the reader to reflect upon the `way that we make a living' while gaining a sense of perspective and insight upon what we really value about our own work. The exercise is at the same time challenging and enlightening and it helps us also to find ways that could improve the way we experience and perceive work itself. From necessity to self-realization: identity First of all, why do we work? OK, the first answer is a given: `we work to make a living'. But there is much more than that and too often we fail to consider and value it. Gini puts it quite clearly: "Renè Descartes was wrong. It isn't `Cogito ergo sum' (I think, therefore I am), but rather `Labora, ergo sum' (I work therefore, I am). We need work, and as adults we find identity in and are identified by the work we do. Our work tells us who we are. If this is true, then we must be careful about what we choose to do for a living, for what we do is what we become. At its worst, work is a burden and a necessity. At its best work can be an act of personal freedom and self-realization. But either way, work is a necessary and defining ingredient in our lives". From both a psychological and social perspective the sense of identity that we get from work is a powerful one; it does shape who we are and the way we are perceived by others, yet most of all, the `rules' of our work do have a powerful impact on the way we understand and give meaning to events shaping our lives and the lives of others. Beyond the survival game? Do we work to survive or can we also gain satisfaction from work aiming at that self-realization that deep inside we all strive for? Since the Industrial Revolution the progressive spreading of material well-being (at least within the Western civilization) should have enabled workers to go beyond the threshold of `work as survival' into a dimension of work more linked to real achievement, expression of talent and inner potential. Gini writes "Unfortunately, both conventional wisdom and sociological surveys tell us that a significant portion of the workforce feels trapped in jobs that lack the possibility of `real achievement', `feelings of satisfaction' and the opportunity for the development of a `healthy and stable sense of self'. For these individuals work remains an obstacle to endure instead of an opportunity to expend one's life. Clearly, the only satisfaction to be found in some jobs lies in the necessity of getting it done when no other

Sum, ergo laboro ("I am, therefore I [must] work")

For most of us work as a means to an end (namely, consumerism) has displaced the notion of work as a pleasure. Etymologically, the words "work", "job", or "labor" denote pain, sorrow, or heavy, burdensome tasks. Thus, in "My Job, My Self" Al Gini wonders: "So why, given our poverty of time and the burdens of work, haven't we traded our prosperity for leisure?" (p. 141). One answer provided by Gini in this thorough expose on everything "job/work", is that most of us no longer work out of a sense of duty, necessity, or utilitarian pleasure; nor hunger or the satisfactions of craftsmanship or pleasures of a job well done. Sadly, we no longer seem capable of knowing what exactly to do with our free-time, and find ourselves more often than naught, bored, wanting, and desiring things only more money can buy. We have become a nation of culture consumers: "Emo, ergo sum"/"I shop, therefore I am", (p. 140). The main thrust of "My Job, My Self" is not to propose some vague utopian elimination of work altogether, but rather to acknowledge the importance that modern society places on work, and to show how we have come to identify ourselves through our jobs. If our jobs are so vital to who we are, then we really ought to pay more attention to what exactly we're getting out of them. Gini admits that, "Work will never be completely free of disappointment, drudgery, and toil, but all work should, at least, offer the possibility of purpose and hope" (p.224). "My Job, My Self" is an enlightening journey through a subject many readers read books to escape from in the first place! Yet, our jobs consume so much of our time and lives that only a straight-forward examination of what we do, and why we do it, can be therapeutic - and quite possibly life-changing. "My Job, My Self" is rounded off with insightful chapters on subjects such as race, women in the workplace, time and stress issues related to workaholism, and the importance of ethics and leadership. In general, it contains sound socio-economic discussion related to the nature of work itself, and the worker's relation to it in an increasingly technologically driven economy. Read, reflect, and arm yourself with your new-found revelations, for "without love, work is servitude" (p.224).

Thorough, Data-Filled, Academic Treatment of Modern Work

After finishing this book, all I can say is "wow." Mr. Gini is clearly one of the more knowledgeable people on the subject of work and its changing role in modern society. This book is masterfully well written and demonstrates a sound knowledge of the subject matter, which is presented in a very well thought out and logically presented manner. The scope of the subject matter being very broad, the author's ability to envelope it and treat so many aspects of it in such depth was really remarkable. There is an amazing amount of information presented within the book, a plethora of footnotes, and yet the book is not imposing - it is in fact rewarding because of all it. While the entire book was fascinating, I thought that there were four chapters in particular that were outstanding. Chapter 7 "Women in the Workplace", Chapter 8 "Squeezing Time", Chapter 10 "Work Spend and Debt Syndrome", and Chapter 12 "The End of Work, is Rifkin Right?" all cover enough detail to be books of their own, Mr. Gini references many other books which do just that. "Women in the Workplace" explores the many remarkable facets of how the increasing penetration of women into the workforce has changed our society, and how society has driven those changes. "Squeezing Time" talks of the incredible shrinking of free time in modern society compared to those of years gone by. The author sees this as a natural extension of the Industrial Revolution, and has the data to back up this view. "Work Spend and Debt Syndrome" talks about the shift in society to one of people with lives to one of people as consumers. The similarities between this and "Bobos in Paradise" by Brooks is startling. Mr. Gini demonstrates qualitatively and quantitatively how we have become a consumer society, and shows us what exactly that means. "The End of Work, is Rifkin Right?" is an amazing chapter (partly because I agree with his points very strongly) in which the author looks at the some of the questions posed by Mr. Jeremy Rifkin and Mr. Robert Heilbroner in their 1996 book. Their main point had been that the increase in productivity caused by the personal computer had yet to fully ripple through the workplace, and that as it did so we would see waves of greater and greater unemployment. Mr. Gini takes a look at this view four years later, and is cautious to not deliver an aggressive verdict. One of the more interesting things I found about this book, other than the points that the author brought forth and the views of society that he projected, was that it almost had a self-help aspect to it. There is an amazing amount of comfort behind statistics in which "85% of all workers felt __", especially when the blank is filled in with something you feel as well. In that manner, there were parts of this book that evoked similar themes to "A Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, something that completely surprised me. This is by no means a central tenement to the text, but its effect was cer

Work -- love it or hate it

Work is something virtually all of us do, and for a huge percentage of our adult waking lives. Few, however, have subjected the institution and concept of work to philosophical scrutiny--Al Gini breaks that pattern, with his insightful, smooth-reading work "My Job My Self". He dissects work from a variety of different angles and perspectives, sharing all of the cutting-edge research on the topic from a variety of disciplinary resources, all the while making it easy to understand, relevant, and a pleasure to read. I'd recommend this book to anyone -- currently working, soon to work, or retired. It will push many buttons, and make you think about something going on all around you in a new light.Reading "My Job My Self" is certainly not work!