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The term utopia can be taken in the broad sense to describe the different forms in which the hope of a better world is expressed, from the partially indeterminate wish to the waking dream. It can also be understood in a narrower sense when it designates descriptions of the ideal world which can serve as an instrument to make the really existing world better. Any popular policy worthy of the name should aim to give a theoretical expression to the hope of a better, more just and free world, which emerges from the social experiences of subordinate groups, a theoretical expression in the form of useful ideals. to their self-empowerment. Is it not in this sense that the workers' movement has given a central place to the utopia of the emancipation of work? Owen, Fourier, Saint-Simon and Marx, beyond their differences, all sought to give a theoretical and political expression to the aim of a world where one would work not only less but also more freely and in a way more satisfactory. It is on this point that the distance with contemporary versions of anti-capitalism is greatest. Indeed, attempts to renew the utopian content of a socialist or communist project generally put aside the question of work. They tend to think of justice and emancipation either independently of work, or away from work, or against work. And yet, even today, the wish to be able to work differently, in conditions which are not those of the experience of injustice and domination, nourishes the hope of a better world - a wish awaiting theoretical and political translations.

The uselessness of many jobs can be assessed in various ways. One of the simplest consists in noting the insistence which is placed on the need to "create" jobs, without making any mention of their content: it is therefore that their usefulness lies only in their mere existence and not in any function.

eclectron wrote: