For Man Must Work - Or the End of Work (2001)
Directed by Jean-Claude Burger
Genres - Science & Technology |
Sub-Genres - Social Issues |
Run Time - 52 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
Since the mid-'50s, thinkers have declared that technology will one day replace the worker; in the year 2000, For Man Must Work or the End of Work asserts, a new economy driven by technology is making a work-less world a reality. In 1981, the coal-mining region of Cape Breton employed 200,000 in 161 mines; today, 10,000 are employed in 20 mines. The French steel industry has experienced similar declines in its workforce. While technological advances have eliminated workers, the problem has been complicated by new world economies. Many corporations in the United States have moved their factories to Juarez, Mexico where labor is cheaper, unions nonexistent, and labor laws ignored. While Jean-Claude Burger chronicles this new reality, he also poses a number of disturbing questions. What effect will job displacement have on workers, especially ones long attached to a particular region? Will third world countries be forced to re-fight the same battles for workers rights that industrialized nations fought a 100 years ago? For Man Must Work or the End of Work offers a provocative study on the changing environment of the modern worker.
Characteristics
Keywords
worker's-rights, global-economy, industry, labor-issues, worker, factory, technology