With reference to aspects of Herbert Marcuse, this article explores the limitations of the work-life balance campaign. It argues that it is in essence ‘one dimensional’, and that its underlying trajectory is one of the ‘containment’ of work-life balance readjustments to within the pre-established limits of managerial rationality and capitalist organisation. It contrasts this limited campaign with theories of working-time reduction that offer the potential for an expanded realm of autonomy and a more thorough-going liberation of time from work.
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