Abstract

The article contributes to deconstruct work as an apparatus which, on the one hand, creates expectations of meaning and personal fulfillment and, on the other, gives the ground for economic value and socio-political inclusion. The analysis focuses on the temporal structure of work and professional activity, and puts into dialogue some sociological data with fresh philosophical insights on the theoretical and existential relationship between work, meaning and time provided by Simone Weil in her early writings. In highlighting the relationship between time and work (as the plurality of human activities), Weil’s understanding sheds light on work as a source of meaning and may thus complete contemporary reading on the abstraction of socially necessary labour-time, social acceleration and work-life balance.