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Non Stop Inertia Paperback – March 16, 2011

by Ivor Southwood (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 37 ratings
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In our culture of short-term work, mobile communications an rolling media it seems we are always on the move; but are w really getting anywhere? Non-Stop Inertia argues that this appearance of restless activity conceals and indeed maintains a deep paralysis of thought and action, and that rather than being unquestionable or inevitable, the environment of personal flexibility and perpetual crisis which we now inhabit is ideologically constructed. Written from inside this system of precarious employment and debt-driven subjectivity, illustrating its arguments with actual examples and using theory to make connections and unlock meanings, the book shows how in our constant anxious pursuit of work and leisure we are running on the spot against a scrolling CGI backdrop. As performative labourers full-time jobseekers, social networkers and consumer-citizens, we are so preoccupied by the business of 'being ourselves' that our real identities are forgotten and our dreams of resistance buried.
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  1. Print length
    106 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Zero Books
  4. Publication date
    March 16, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    5.65 x 0.32 x 8.77 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1846945305
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846945304
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zero Books (March 16, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 106 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1846945305
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846945304
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.65 x 0.32 x 8.77 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 37 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
37 global ratings

Top review from the United States

GlobalChangeSupercenter5
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Heart-Breaking
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is a valiant cry from within the supersystem, a small, beautiful record of opposition to the damage wrought. The personal details are wonderfully rendered, each a movie of the current devastation of neoliberal managerialism. The accompanying theory might put off some more gimlet-eyed critical types, but Southwood has earned the right to put his temp-dismay in greater context, and he is easily the equal of the more established social critics such as Ehrenreich in his quick tours around his barely- working non-self.
Although his embrace of the stupefying, banal Internet as somehow a solution to the ennui of trying to maintain a psychic core in this age shows him yet short of social nihilism that marks a more tough-minded critic, his stories will live on as brave and strong.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Erikkh
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insight into the new “normal” of jobseeking
Reviewed in Germany on January 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book focusses on the precarious position of jobseekers and workers without secure jobs, the absurd rituals they have to go through to get these jobs and the normalisation of this absurdity. To anyone who has had to find a job in (at least) the last ten years, passages will resonate with that experience and for anyone else it's an important insight into the dehumanizing nature of jobseeking at the bottom of the economy. The writer's proposed solutions to the problem are pathetic which I don't mean as a slight to the author but as a confirmation of the truly powerless position of the people stuck in precarious employment. The writing style swerves between the poetic and the pompous but the great pace and focus makes the book hard to put down.

I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in a vivid description of the pressures and absurdities that those without steady employment have to go through. In particular it would be important reading for employers and people managing jobcenters, temp agencies and HR departments.
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Noon
5.0 out of 5 stars Dystopia Reviled.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ivor Southwood gets to the nub of post-modern, post-Fordian 'angst' with this stunning little book. He rants eloquently on subjects which should ring a, pavlovian, bell with all 'outsiders' and a few 'insiders' to.

He spits deserved disgust at the incipience of what passes for work in the land of the take away, throw away, robotic, sleepwalking, temping, zero hours contract, Mcjob nightmare, and fires all his guns at the worthless terms and drab world of the government placebo that is the job centre plus and its toxic ideology.

A microscopic look at the self help, living with insecurity, creation that attempts to engulf us. A stunning insight that is a clarion call to any self respecting 'citizen' to take up arms and smash the all pervading, smile for the camera, insanity of it all.
2 people found this helpful
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By Jove
4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing hidden corners
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
An insightful read from an articulate person. We seldom get to hear the thoughts of under-employed people doing precarious work.
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Mr Graham
5.0 out of 5 stars living it - beyond theory
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book articulates the sense of what it is like to live, to be alive, in a world that not everyone can so easily adapt and fit into and actually might not want to adapt and fit into the way it is currently formatted for most. It's a book that makes you realise zombies are real and that you might be one of them. It is passionately written and current. And if you want to know what it's like living in the UK and how the buzz words of corporate life are keeping you on your toes gong no where - this is the book.
15 people found this helpful
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Just a Number
3.0 out of 5 stars Get a better job
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a nicely written essay and an entertaining read. It makes you thankful (if) you aren't stuck in the lifeless 'jobs' this guy seems to spend his time doing. I get Southwood's point and can identify with his complaints - it's a bitch being stuck in temporary low-paid work if you want something better, and the world you inhabit as an agency robot is almost meaningless. But as with most leftist polemics it paints a black and white view of life: capitalism is wicked and the world is evil because it doesn't make the most dreadful jobs fulfilling and socialism will cure everything and everyone is against the humble worker. It's well-meaning, kind, and far from 'nasty' (so are most children) but naive. Aside from the slightly bitter tone of the book (and anyway, why on earth is a guy who can write and think at this level spending his time in dire shelf-stacking jobs and then complaining?) I caught an attitude that suggested everyone in those temporary positions loathes the work and finds their life meaningless. This seems an arrogant assumption coming from someone clearly very intelligent. No wonder he is frustrated - he should progress to a more fulfilling job and quit moaning. I don't think everyone in low paid work and agency work is miserable. As for capitalism, if it weren't for Amazon's onsalught, sales of books like this would remain minute - it would be sensible to admit there are some upsides to capitalism. Finally, the author's idea that only the miserable temorary underling thinks rebellious thoughts about 'the wicked system', never the managers or higher-ups, is short sighted. Everyone with an ounce of intelligence knows they're all playing a 'part' in the non-place of the modern work environment. It has having no identification or relationship with the place or people that can make a lot of work environments so dismal. Most people in the world have to stick at a job and fight, then they move up and get a better life. Life's a bitch, but in this system, at least if you want to fight to get somewhere you can. But the main point I picked up here I can only agree with, and made the book a nice read - work is a bitch, primarily because of all the c**ts you have to deal with along the way.
7 people found this helpful
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