TY  - CHAP
AB  - This article discusses how the concepts of exploration and exploitation are fruitful for understanding individual fantasies of escape from the demands of contemporary workplaces. We examine one influential articulation of such fantasies, namely the best-selling self-help book “The 4-Hour Workweek.” This book advocates that individuals outsource the bulk of the routine (“exploitation”) tasks of their lives, leaving themselves free for creativity, play, and leisure (“exploration”). In this way, a radical separation of exploitation and exploration at the individual level is proposed. We examine the meanings and contradictions of such ideas by discussing how they may function as powerful escape fantasies for those facing corporate overwork. However, we argue that the solution proposed is unsatisfactory because of its individualism, which fails to see the inherently social nature of work and life.
VL  - 37
SN  - 978-1-78190-506-7, 978-1-78190-505-0/0733-558X
DO  - 10.1108/S0733-558X(2013)0000037012
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X(2013)0000037012
AU  - Costas Jana
AU  - Grey Christopher
ED  - Mikael Holmqvist
ED  - André Spicer
PY  - 2012
Y1  - 2012/01/01
TI  - Outsourcing your Life: Exploitation and Exploration in “the 4-Hour Workweek”
T2  - Managing ‘Human Resources’ by Exploiting and Exploring People’s Potentials
T3  - Research in the Sociology of Organizations
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 221
EP  - 247
Y2  - 2024/05/05
ER  -