Rethinking Labour: Ethical Reflections on the Future of Work (20 November 2018, Global)
Rethinking Labour: Ethical Reflections on the Future of Work
The Caritas in Veritate Foundation is pleased to present our tenth working paper. Recent decades have witnessed the consolidation of a global economic system strongly characterised by exclusion and inequality as a result of a largely excessive and misplaced trust in the omnipotence of the markets. Today, the distortions and dysfunctions of the free market economy tend to adversely affect the lives of individuals and communities more than ever before. Consequently, work itself, together with its dignity, is increasingly at risk of losing its value as a “good” for the human person and becoming merely a means of exchange within asymmetrical social relations. This calls us to rethink and reconsider what labour is and what it means for the economy, society, policy- and decision-makers and the human being, as presented in the ILO’s Centenary Initiative on the Future of Work.
By integrating the human dimension, the centrality of human dignity, and the common good within discussions on the future of work, this present paper intends to find answers to some of the current concerns and questions raised: Can we develop and improve new policies to ensure decent work for all? Does the youth have a fair chance in the world of work? What are the implications on the labour market due to the record levels of international migration? How can we put technology at the service of the human being? How can digitalisation contribute to more and better jobs, higher incomes and working standards?
The crucial role played by work finds a consistent recognition in the Christian tradition and offers us a guide to “rethink labour” by not only including the economic component but, more importantly, the social dimension.
The Caritas in Veritate Foundation together with “The Future of Work, Labour after Laudato Si” global project propose, through this publication, to answer to those questions raised by integrating the human dimension, the centrality of human dignity, and the common good within discussions on the future of work, both in international organisations and in civil society.
This release is also available in the news section at the website of the CiVF: