The Work We Need

Get in the xigxag app
Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book. Pre-order Buy Now ${{ price }} Send as a gift
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

'Cottam is the humane revolutionary our turbulent century needs - and this book our roadmap to a better future' JONATHAN FREEDLAND, author of THE ESCAPE ARTIST

'Highly recommend - practical and full of human wisdom' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Brimming with ideas to transform the future' KATE RAWORTH, author of DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS

Work, for decades, has been debated and discussed as a narrow economic category. Instead, Hilary Cottam identifies work as a cultural force at the heart of good lives, strong communities and a sense of a shared national destiny. Crucially, in these dramatic times, she shows how we can shape this force to meet technological change, our ecological crisis and the challenges of the world's deep injustices. We can create a work revolution.

Ambitious but rooted in the ideas of everyday experts - real workers from all walks of life - this is a realistic and hopeful book. Hilary Cottam has crossed the UK and the USA; she's spent time in communities considered by outsiders as 'left behind' and in places at the centre of financial and technological power. Drawing on a fascinating range of sources - historians, trade unionists, business leaders, philosophers and most originally, hours of her imaginative workshops with workers - Hilary Cottam boldly asks: how can we redesign work?

Our challenges - political, social, economic and environmental - are tangled and growing. But so are the imaginative solutions. In this exciting, inspiring and optimistic book, Hilary shows us how we could work differently and live better.

'So valuable . . . Hilary Cottam proposes a bold new vision of what the principles underlying 'good work' might be' MARIANA MAZZUCATO, UCL professor and author of MISSION ECONOMY

'Timely . . . guides the changes needed' CARLOTA PEREZ

'Exposes what motivates workers today - not the things most business leaders think - and shows how new thinking would benefit us all. Compelling' MARTHA LANE FOX

'Urgent, compelling and ultimately hopeful . . . Necessary and Inspiring' CAROLINE LUCAS, Green Party MP and author of ANOTHER ENGLAND

Critics Review

Pushing us to rethink our most basic assumptions . . . Full of empathy, insight and courage . . . Cottam is the humane revolutionary our turbulent century needs - and this book our roadmap to a better future
Jonathan Freedland, author of THE ESCAPE ARTIST
Brimming with ideas to transform the future, Hilary Cottam takes us on a fascinating journey to discover how to make work work
Kate Raworth, author of DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS
An act of racial hope, radical listening and radical humility - Hilary Cottam challenges our most fundamental assumptions about our lives and society and most importantly, suggests how we can make things much better. I loved it
Rory Stewart
Urgent, compelling and ultimately hopeful . . . Cottam demonstrates that a better future, based on reciprocity and mutual collaboration, is not only possible but its seeds are already here. Necessary and Inspiring
Caroline Lucas
Exposes what motivates workers today - not the things most business leaders think - and shows how new thinking would benefit us all. Compelling
Martha Lane Fox
Integrates life as imagined by workers themselves with a keen understanding of technological and economic change. An engrossing blueprint for change
Anne-Marie Slaughter
One of the deepest thinkers on this subject
Colin Mayor, author of CAPITALISM AND CRISES
Twenty-first century people cannot give their best if tied down to twentieth-century patterns of work. Hilary Cottam provides the roadmap for the required transformation. Timely . . . guides the changes needed
Carlota Perez
Cottam has found inspiring examples of efforts to build a better future of work, many grounded in a specific place, from Barrow-in-Furness to Grimsby to Baltimore . . . Most 21st century jobs aren't working. Here are six ways to revolutionise them
Observer
What happens if you step back from the relentless treadmill, and ask a deeper question: can we reimagine our working lives? Hilary Cottam did just that . . . [she] names six principles of a good working life . . . I love the simplicity of this prescription, and highly recommend her book - it's practical and full of humane wisdom . . . In a nutshell: providing good work is more than just pay and conditions - it's about creating firm foundations for our well being as humans
Financial Times
For an economy that delivers for the common good, we must envision what an economy that delivers meaningful work for all might look like. Building on a rich tapestry of first-hand accounts of workers, Hilary Cottam proposes a bold new vision of what the principles underlying 'good work' might be. So valuable
Mariana Mazzucato, UCL, author of MISSION ECONOMY: A MOONSHOT GUIDE TO CHANGING CAPITLISM

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.