The Conquest of Bread · Chapter
X: Agreeable Work explained
Kropotkin argues that under a socialist society, work can be made agreeable and healthy, citing examples of well-organized factories and mines that already demonstrate the possibility.
What happens
Kropotkin argues that under a socialist society, work can be made agreeable and healthy, citing examples of well-organized factories and mines that already demonstrate the possibility. He also addresses domestic labor, advocating for the use of machinery and communal services to free women from household drudgery, while rejecting the phalanstery model in favor of a balance between social and private life.
Themes in this chapter
Individuality and Leisure
Kropotkin emphasizes the importance of alternating social work with private leisure, rejecting forced communal living.
Critique of Capitalism and Wage Labor
He criticizes the waste of human energy and the exploitation of workers under capitalism, arguing for healthier and more efficient work conditions.
Anarchist Communism
Kropotkin advocates for a society where work is voluntary, pleasant, and organized through voluntary associations, with communal services replacing domestic slavery.
Characters to notice
- Fourier
Kropotkin references Fourier's dream of agreeable work, noting it was not a Utopia.
- The Socialists
Kropotkin mentions Socialists who argue for making work agreeable and those who reject the phalanstery.
- Kropotkin
Kropotkin narrates his visits to a model factory and mine in England, and discusses the future of domestic work.
Key passages
“A society regenerated by the Revolution will make domestic slavery disappear—this last form of slavery, perhaps the most tenacious, because it is also the most ancient.”
The revolution will end domestic slavery, the oldest and most persistent form of servitude.
Kropotkin asserts that domestic work must be transformed through communal and technological means.
“The most important economy, the only reasonable one, is to make life pleasant for all, because the man who is satisfied with his life produces infinitely more than the man who curses his surroundings.”
True efficiency comes from making life enjoyable, as happy workers are far more productive.
Kropotkin argues that economic reasoning supports creating pleasant work conditions.