Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, right? Wrong.

This neoliberal ideal of “doing what you love” is actually a recipe for exploitation that is wreaking havoc on our lives and communities. Whether it’s working for exposure and experience, or enduring long hours and poor treatment in the name of ‘being part of the family,’ many of us have fallen into the trap of making sacrifices for the ‘privilege’ of fulfilling work.

Understanding the trap, and why we so readily buy into it, will empower us to work less and demand what our work is actually worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy and satisfaction. 

Drawing on a series of interviews with workers in the cultural, healthcare, sports sectors, among others, author, journalist and podcaster Sarah Jaffe invites us to reimagine a future built on care rather than exploitation. At a time when so many of us have been forced to look again at the way we work, this could not be more important.

#RSAWork

This conversation was broadcast online on the 28th January 2021. Join us at: www.thersa.org