Historical Thinkers

Karl Polanyi - (1886-1964) his most famous work entitled "The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Times", is a critical assessment of the fictions of "self-regulating" free market forces. Whereby the "commodity of labour" is discovered not to be a commodity after all, much to the surprise of the neo-classical economists.

Herbert Marcuse - (1898-1979) is an essential read to understand the predicament of the working class in the twentieth century and beyond. Marcuse was a member of the Frankfurt school and wrote extensively on the condition of humanity. One of his most famous books, "One Dimensional Man", outlines how we have enslaved ourselves within the confines of technology in the name of technical rationality.

Karl Marx - (1818-1883) one of the few thinkers who actually made it over the divide. Click and be directed to a new world. Marx's revolutionary thinking about the nature of capitalism and its impact on working people has been used throughout the world to create alternative forms of governance such as communism and socialism. Marx with the help of his life long friend Engels, produced a series of works entitled Das Kapital. In these volumes, Marx redefines the meaning of work and its purpose under a capitalist system,

Harry Braverman - (1920-1976) wrote undoubtedly one of the most influential books in the twentieth century on the subject of work. Harry's book " Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century", was a ground breaking analysis of work within a modern capitalist economic system. Harry who had spent many years working within an industrial setting used his first hand knowledge, and a thorough grounding in socio-economic thought to leverage his ability to produce such an enlightening and thought provoking work. The Braverman debate, regardless of what some schools of thought may lead you to believe is alive and well. In fact, in the age of the smart machine, it could be argued that Harry's ideas of deskilling are more relevant than ever.