Story of work: A new history of humankind

We work because we have to, but also because we like it: from hunting-gathering more than 700,000 years ago to the present era of zoom meetings, humans have always worked to make the world around them serve their needs. Jan Lucassen provides an inclusive history of humanity’s busy labor throughout the ages. Spanning China, India, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, Lucassen looks at the ways in which humanity organizes work: in the household, the tribe, the city, and the state. He examines how labor is split between men, women, and children; the watershed moment of the invention of money; the collective action of workers; and the impact of migration, slavery, and the idea of leisure. From peasant farmers in the first agrarian societies to the precarious existence of today’s gig workers, this surprising account of both cooperation and subordination at work throws essential light on the opportunities we face today. About the Author Jan Lucassen (b. 1947), is a social and economic historian with research experience in Northwestern Europe and South Asia. His main fields of interest are the history of work, labour migration and monetary history. Dr. Lucassen is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a fellow at the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam, where he founded the IISH Research Department.