[voidhorse]

I hope someone will (or has?) conducted a historical and geographical analysis of the concept of “burnout”. I’m curious about where precisely it emerges (hypothesis, predominantly America) and when (hypothesis, the 21st century).

It’s a peculiar concept in that it seems to capture the idea that we’ve reached a stage in human development in which we shouldn’t really have to work that much, but do so anyway. It a sort of paradoxical situation in which we’ve eliminated the conditions which necessitated or fostered overwork with material ends (must produce xyz units of consumable goods, food etc) for overwork with largely frivolous ends (the sustainment of online systems which don’t actually create any material value—only abstract or cultural value—not true in every case, of course) enter the “burnout” concept—the big boss no longer needs to forcibly push his workers to the edge, they’ll do it for him through some odd sense of pride or ridiculous notions of performance which are enforced not through punishment but through the allocation of “benefits” like respect, small bonuses, etc etc. —the workplace “culture” (though the social dynamics which emerge at workplaces are not worthy of the name) is an effective system for ensuring people overextend themselves.

[javiramos]

I recently read a book (Behemoth [0]) about the history of the 'factory' and I can tell you that burnout is omnipresent throughout the entire narrative. Particularly, the 18th century textile mills were a brutal and oppressive place to work. Burnout, financial ruin and pressure, and worker unhappiness were persistent elements of the book. To this day, we still have manufacturing settings that heavily rely in oppressive and abusive labor practices.

I think that what is "new" is burnout in the context of the office and knowledge work.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/14/behemoth-joshu...