May 22, 2023
Film scholar Hester (Xenofeminism) and economist Srnicek (Platform Capitalism) examine the history of domestic work over the past century and propose that changes in how housework is managed could restore free choice in how to use one’s time. Focusing on five Northern European countries and the U.S., the authors contend that technological progress—from washtubs to washing machines, for example—only creates more work, not more free time. Offering an alternative model, they highlight traditions of shared duties in communes of the past, such as Russia’s post-Czarist “new form of daily life—or novyi byt,” a type of collective living with shared laundries, kitchens, and childcare facilities—and the American “landdyke,” a lesbian separatist community committed to moving beyond a gendered division of labor. Arguing against “the needless repetition of domestic work” across many small households, the authors point to the increased efficiency and reduction of total work required from participants in communal care arrangements. Though lay readers may find the academic prose tough going, this is an incisive critique of the status quo and an earnest appeal to rethink why people work and how they spend their time.