Embracing the Slow Movement: A Comprehensive Review

In a world where speed and time are of the essence, it is almost an obscene idea to “slow down”, or to take things from a pace of extreme rushing to that of a slower, more relaxed one. Looking back throughout history, it is clear that time is beginning to speed up, and tasks that used to once be enjoyable have started to speed up in order to increase time for other more ‘important’ things, such as working for example. Carl Honoré’s book, titled In Praise of Slow takes the reader through many different topics of discussion, and how each could be and is affected by the “slow movement”. This book discusses the way in which slowing down is very beneficial to many different institutions within society and the ways in which this can be done. By examining

The leisure class, as mentioned by Veblen would not necessarily mean that people who are engaging in this slow type of work are privileged enough to be included in this class, but it could represent a change in what Veblen talked about many years ago. Within the chapter regarding slow work, Honoré talks about one case in particular where two women are sharing one job. Throughout his research with these women, it is clear that they both have husbands who make a good living which means that it is possible for them to take a pay cut in order to work shorter hours. According to Veblen, could this mean that they would be considered a part of the leisure class? That is up for discussion, as many other factors would need to be

Felstad’s article titled Rapid Change or Slow Evolution looks at the way in which people who want more freedom within their occupation are moving their jobs outside of their offices, in order to create more leisure time for things they enjoy. These changes of location carry a multitude of benefits, but since the increase of technology, work is able to happen anywhere, which is beneficial to some people (and detrimental to others). This relates to the mention of the increase in technology within In Praise of Slow, as well as relates to Hungwe’s article titled Identity, Self-Interpretation and Workplace Change: An Investigation of the Work Activity of Machining. This article examines technology and how it is reducing the amount of physical labour needed within technological jobs, which means decreasing labour time and providing more free time for the workers. Overall, it is clear that all of the articles that have been mentioned offer some sort of insight into the field of slow work, and how it is becoming increasingly more popular as time goes on. This can only mean good things for the future of many societal institutions, including