The Work We Need

'An act of radical hope, radical listening and radical humility . . . I loved it' RORY STEWART

By: Hilary Cottam

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Paperback | 28 May 2026 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Format
Paperback

Dimensions(cm)
19.7 x 12.8 x 2.3

Paperback

$34.75

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'Cottam is the humane revolutionary our turbulent century needs - and this book our roadmap to a better future' JONATHAN FREEDLAND, author of THE ESCAPE ARTIST

'Highly recommend - practical and full of human wisdom' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Brimming with ideas to transform the future' KATE RAWORTH, author of DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS

We can create a work revolution. For decades, work has been debated and discussed as a narrow economic category. Instead, Hilary Cottam identifies work as a cultural force at the heart of good lives, strong communities and a sense of a shared national destiny. Crucially, in these dramatic times, she shows how we can shape this force to meet technological change, our ecological crisis and the challenges of the world's deep injustices.

Ambitious but rooted in the ideas of everyday experts - real workers from all walks of life - this is a realistic and hopeful book. Drawing on a fascinating range of sources (historians, trade unionists, business leaders, philosophers and most originally, hours of her imaginative workshops with workers), Hilary Cottam boldly asks: how can we redesign work?

'So valuable . . . Hilary Cottam proposes a bold new vision of what the principles underlying "good work" might be' MARIANA MAZZUCATO, UCL professor and author of MISSION ECONOMY

'Timely . . . guides the changes needed' CARLOTA PEREZ

'Exposes what motivates workers today - not the things most business leaders think - and shows how new thinking would benefit us all. Compelling' MARTHA LANE FOX

'Urgent, compelling and ultimately hopeful . . . Necessary and Inspiring' CAROLINE LUCAS, Green Party MP and author of ANOTHER ENGLAND

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