读书碎片 | 争取感受阳光落在皮肤上的权利
书籍:The Refusal of Work
作者:David Frayne
章节:第1章:A provocation读书碎片 #017
以下内容来自阅读中的随手记录,思想在这里被暂时放下。
很多打工人的一天,是从黑夜走向黑夜。清晨出门时天还没亮,夜里回家时太阳已经落山,阳光成了一种周末的奢侈品。
这个再平常不过的生活细节,恰恰揭示了现代社会最深层的荒诞:我们建造了璀璨的文明,却活成了见不到太阳的穴居人。
正是在这个意义上,英国学者David Frayne的《The Refusal of Work》一书发出了一记振聋发聩的警钟。
他继承20世纪60和70年代意大利自治主义运动(Autonomist movement)的批判传统,借用1971年意大利电影《工人阶级上天堂》中的那句台词——“早上八点钟。当你出来的时候天就黑了。今天太阳不会为你照耀”——精准捕捉了现代工作的核心困境。
那些意大利工人抗议的不仅是工资剥削,更是感知经验的匮乏。他们为工人争取在工作之外过上更丰富生活的权利而战:感受阳光落在皮肤上的权利、与孩子玩耍的权利、在工厂外发展兴趣和技能的权利,以及在夜晚安然入睡的权利。
这种看似朴素的要求,实则是对“工作教条”(work dogma)最根本的挑战——那种将工作置于生活中心、赋予其道德崇高地位的现代迷信。
Frayne指出,在现代社会,工作代表着一种高度自然化且被认为是理所当然的日常生活特征。所谓“工作教条”,指的是尽管面临着种种令人不安的现实,工作在道德上的崇高地位依然坚不可摧。
政客和媒体不断宣扬带薪工作是健康和优良品格的重要来源,同时痴迷于妖魔化那些不工作的“懒汉”(scrounger)。旧式的工作伦理已经深深扎根于那些旨在强迫人们脱离福利、步入就业的政策之中。在英国,福利制度的削减和对无业者日益严苛的惩罚,使得人们拒绝工作的余地被大幅压缩。
Frayne认为,这种对工作的狂热崇拜是教条且盲目的,因为它完全无视了以下三个极其严峻的社会现实:
我们从小就被父母和老师教育去幻想一份能实现自我表达和创造力的工作。然而,在当今的劳动力市场中,绝大多数人面临的现实却是苦差事、服从和精疲力竭,很难在带薪就业的世界中找到巩固自身抱负的机会。
大规模失业、工作缺乏保障以及低薪工作,正使得“就业”成为一种越来越不可靠的收入、权利和归属感来源。面对这种局面,正统的政治解决方案总是“创造就业”(job creation),即通过增加产量和扩张经济来发明工作。然而,科学家和经济学家指出,持续的经济增长不仅无法解决问题,反而会带来令人不安的环境和社会隐患。
随着科技和生产力的飞跃,社会生产必需品所需的劳动力其实是越来越少的。
为了抵消生产力提高带来的劳动力过剩(即避免大规模失业),经济必须像在跑步机上一样永无止境地扩张,仅仅是为了“维持”原有的就业水平。这就导致增长变成了一种强迫症,它并没有解决人们“过度劳累”和“工作分配不均”的根本问题,只是让这台机器越转越快。
我们不知不觉地适应了工作在我们生活中不断升级的统治地位。工作的要求溢出到了家庭中,以前所未有的程度榨取我们的情感和个性。“受雇能力”(employability)成为了驱动我们野心、人际交往和教育体系的核心力量。其副作用是,那些不能为经济或就业做贡献的活动和人际关系,正遭到严重的贬低和忽视。
Frayne引用了亚里士多德的Eudaemonia(幸福/繁荣)概念,指出幸福不仅仅是感官的快乐,还包括健康、安全、陪伴、自主、受人尊重以及与社区和环境的连结。人类不仅是感知身体,更是道德、社会和创造性的存在。资本主义死死盯着物质利益和经济增长,这种反亚里士多德的执念令人感到不安。
Frayne希望通过这本书发出一种“挑衅”:是时候挑战现代社会以工作为中心的本质了。他呼吁我们思考替代方案,探索是否有可能以更公平、更解放的方式来分配工作与自由时间。
As it stands, work represents a highly naturalised and taken-for-granted feature of everyday life. The dogmatic nature of work is revealed when we consider the uncanny resilience of its ethical status, even in the face of some very troubling realities.
就目前而言,工作代表着日常生活中一种高度自然化且被认为是理所当然的特征。当我们考虑到工作的道德地位即使在面临一些非常令人不安的现实时,依然具有不可思议的韧性,其教条本质便显露无疑。
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Paid jobs continue to be promoted as a vital source of good health and character, the media continues obsessively to demonise the non-working scrounger, and an old-fashioned work ethic maintains its anchorage in policies designed to force people off welfare and into employment. The stripping back of the welfare state, which in recent times has seen a phased introduction of increasingly stringent penalties for the non-worker, has also significantly reduced the latitude for resistance to work.
带薪工作继续被宣扬为良好健康和品格的重要来源,媒体继续痴迷于妖魔化不工作的懒汉,而一种老式的工作伦理依然扎根于旨在强迫人们脱离福利并步入就业的政策之中。福利国家的削减,在最近表现为逐步引入对不工作者日益严苛的惩罚,这也大大缩小了抵制工作的余地。
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Consider the woeful failure of today’s labour market to keep pace with the desire for jobs that allow for self-expression and creativity. Gratifying work is a fantasy that we have all been trained to invest in, ever since our teachers and parents asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up, yet most of us are confronted with scant opportunities to consolidate our ambitions in the world of paid employment – a world whose signature features are often drudgery, subordination and exhaustion.
思考一下当今劳动力市场在满足人们对允许自我表达和创造力的工作的渴望方面,所表现出的可悲失败。令人满意的工作是我们从小就被训练去投资的幻想,自从我们的老师和父母问我们长大后想成为什么样的人起就是如此,然而我们大多数人在带薪就业的世界里面临的现实是,巩固自身抱负的机会微乎其微——这个世界的标志性特征往往是苦差事、服从和精疲力竭。
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Mass unemployment, job insecurity, and low-wage work are making employment an increasingly unreliable source of income, rights and belonging. The orthodox political solution to this situation is job creation: the invention of work by increasing output and expanding the economy into new sectors. However, as a range of concerned scientists and economists are now pointing out, constant growth is not only unlikely to solve the problem, but also brings with it a disturbing set of environmental and social implications.
大规模失业、工作缺乏保障以及低薪工作,正使得就业成为一种越来越不可靠的收入、权利和归属感来源。面对这种局面的正统政治解决方案是创造就业:即通过增加产量和将经济扩张到新部门来发明工作。然而,正如一系列忧心忡忡的科学家和经济学家现在指出的那样,持续的增长不仅不太可能解决问题,反而会带来一系列令人不安的环境和社会隐患。
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The leaps in productive efficiency witnessed in advanced industrial societies mean that fewer and fewer people are required to produce society’s necessary goods from one year to the next. Throughout the history of capitalism, societies have tended to compensate for the labour-displacing effects of productivity gains either by increasing the output of particular industries, or by expanding the economy into new industries and sectors. Anders Hayden refers to this as the warped logic of the treadmill: the need for never-ending economic expansion simply to maintain employment levels.
在发达工业社会中见证的生产效率飞跃意味着,年复一年,生产社会必需品所需的人越来越少。在资本主义的整个历史中,社会倾向于通过增加特定行业的产量,或将经济扩张到新的行业和部门,来补偿生产力提高带来的劳动力替代效应。安德斯·海登将这称为跑步机扭曲的逻辑:为了维持就业水平而需要永无止境的经济扩张。
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Finally, the dogmatic status of work is also graspable when we consider the extent to which we have unconsciously accommodated work’s escalating dominance in our everyday lives. Work has increasingly spilled its demands into our homes, drawing upon our emotions and personalities to an extent never before seen or tolerated. As the ethic of hard work tightens its grip once again, employability becomes the motivating force of our ambitions, interactions and education system. A side effect of this is that we, as a society, may be losing our grip on the criteria that judge an activity to be worthwhile and meaningful, even if it does not contribute to employability or the needs of the economy. Those activities and relationships that cannot be defended in terms of an economic contribution are being devalued and neglected.
最后,当我们考虑我们在多大程度上不知不觉地适应了工作在日常生活中不断升级的主导地位时,工作教条式的地位也就可想而知了。工作越来越多地将其要求溢出到我们的家庭中,以前所未有或不被容忍的程度榨取我们的情感和个性。随着努力工作的伦理再次收紧其控制,受雇能力成为了驱动我们野心、互动和教育体系的力量。其副作用是,作为一个社会,我们可能正在丧失判断一项活动是否值得和有意义的标准,即使它无助于受雇能力或经济需求。那些不能用经济贡献来辩护的活动和关系,正遭到贬低和忽视。
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Aristotle’s vision of the good life is a common reference point. According to his notion of eudaemonia, a sense of well-being is achieved not simply through sensory pleasure, but also through things like good health, security, companionship, autonomy, a sense of being respected and socially recognised, and a feeling of connection with the community and environment. All these things are important because humans are ethical, social and creative beings, as well as sensing bodies. If the ongoing drive to boost economic growth has become troubling for many, this is partly because of its decidedly anti-Aristotelian fixation on material gain as the route to prosperity.
亚里士多德对美好生活的愿景是一个常见的参考点。根据他的eudaemonia(幸福)概念,幸福感不仅是通过感官快乐来实现的,还通过良好的健康、安全、陪伴、自主、受人尊重和社会认可的感觉,以及与社区和环境的连结感来实现的。所有这些都很重要,因为人类是道德、社会和创造性的存在,而不仅仅是感知的身体。如果目前促进经济增长的驱动力让许多人感到不安,部分原因在于它一种明确反亚里士多德式的、将物质利益视为通向繁荣之路的执念。
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It’s eight o’clock in the morning. When you come out it will be dark. The sun will not shine for you today. The above quotation is taken from Elio Petri’s 1971 film La classe operaia va in paradiso (The Working Class Goes to Heaven).
早上八点钟。当你出来的时候天就黑了。今天太阳不会为你照耀。以上引文出自埃利奥·佩特里1971年的电影《工人阶级上天堂》(La classe operaia va in paradiso)。
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I quote it here as a perfect illustration of what the Autonomists were fighting for. They acknowledged the need for greater freedom and equality within work, but also fought for the right of workers to lead richer lives outside of work. They fought for the right of workers to feel the sun on their skin, to play with their children, to develop interests and skills outside the factory, and to rest peacefully at night. We might say that the appeal of the Autonomists was not just to the injustices of exploitation, but also to the worker’s diminished sensory experience of the world.
我在此引用它,完美地说明了自治主义者所为之奋斗的目标。他们承认需要在工作中获得更大的自由和平等,但也为工人争取在工作之外过上更丰富生活的权利而战。他们为工人争取感受阳光落在皮肤上的权利、与孩子玩耍的权利、在工厂外发展兴趣和技能的权利,以及在夜晚安然入睡的权利而战。我们可以说,自治主义者的诉求不仅仅是针对剥削的不公,也是针对工人在这个世界上被削弱的感知经验。
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Within this political context, my central goal in this book is to argue that the time has come to challenge the work-centred nature of modern society. Within this troubling context, there is an urgent need to contemplate some of the taken-for-granted realities of today’s work-centred society, to consider alternative ways of meeting the needs conventionally sought in work, and to think about whether there might be more equitable and liberating ways of distributing work and free-time. Ultimately, the discussions and arguments in this book are best understood as a kind of provocation.
在这种政治背景下,本书的核心目标是论证:挑战现代社会以工作为中心的本质的时机已经到来。在这种令人不安的背景下,迫切需要反思当今以工作为中心的社会中一些被视为理所当然的现实,思考满足传统上在工作中寻求的需求的替代方法,并思考是否可能有更公平、更解放的方式来分配工作与自由时间。归根结底,本书中的讨论和论点最好被理解为一种挑衅。
一起想象更有尊严的生活

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