Debates on capitalism, work and the right to laziness: a study on Paul Lafargue's right to laziness

Paul Lafargue's Right to Laziness, written in 1883, stands out as a text that questions the activity of work and criticizes the transformation of the activity of work with capitalist relations of production. Written in Lafargue's unique style, the text is a manifesto. The text shows the formal and semantic changes that the activity of work has undergone with capitalist relations of production through comparisons made with pre-capitalist periods. The activity of work, which was seen as the source of pain and the enemy of freedom in previous periods, has now become the center of life in capitalism and has become the condition of existence in society. An ideological hegemony has been established by the bourgeoisie to encourage the activity of work. As a result, the idea of working more has been imposed on the working class. Lafargue also discussed the interest of the working class in the activity of work in the text. Criticizing the ideological apparatuses of capitalism, Lafargue defended the Right to Laziness against the right to work. The fact that the activity of work has become compulsory for those who earn their living by selling their labor power in capitalism has questioned the nature of this activity as a right. Paul Lafargue is a socialist who is one of the organizers of Marxism in Europe. The proposals made in the text call for a struggle for a new social order. This study aims to make a contribution to the questioning of work activity, beyond the measures and practices of a social policy based solely on the improvement of working conditions.