The Critique of Labour in the Neoliberal Era. On the Metamorphoses of a Concept between Pathology and Power

Labour shapes contemporary life not only as an activity or institution, but as a mode of thought — a framework that organises time, structures society, and defines value. This book examines labour as a political force that produces sub- jectivity and sustains social legitimacy, moving beyond its conventional economic definitions. It develops a critical method to trace labour’s conceptual metamor- phoses, analyse its contemporary crises, and open space for alternative imaginar- ies. In the age of algorithmic governance, fractured subjectivities, and performa- tive selfhood, this is an invitation to pause: not to reject labour, but to rethink its centrality, trace its boundaries, and approach its transformations as a site of struggle, critique, and possibility.