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(co-authors Magdalena Soffia, University of Cambridge and Alex J. Wood, University of Birmingham)

Abstract:   David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs theory has generated a great deal of academic and public interest. This theory holds that a large and rapidly increasing number of workers are undertaking jobs that they themselves recognise as being useless and of no social value. We use representative data from the EU to test four of its core hypotheses. Although we find that the perception of doing useless work is strongly associated with poor wellbeing, our findings contradict the main propositions of Graeber’s theory.  Marx’s concept of alienation and a ‘Work Relations’ approach provide inspiration for an alternative account that highlights poor management and toxic workplace environments in explaining why workers perceive their job as useless.

The Sociology Seminar Series for Trinity Term is convened by Nicholas Martindale. For more information about this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact sociology.secretary@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.