Description
Inventing Laziness explores the cultural and intellectual history of productivity in late Ottoman society, examining how Ottoman thinkers, reformers, and ordinary people understood work, leisure, and progress. Melis Hafez argues that the concept of ‘laziness’ was not a fixed characteristic but rather a cultural invention that reflected anxieties about modernization and social change.
Through careful analysis of Ottoman texts, journals, and social commentary, Hafez demonstrates how debates about productivity were deeply intertwined with questions of identity, reform, and the Ottoman encounter with European modernity. The book challenges Western assumptions about the relationship between capitalism, work ethic, and civilization, offering fresh insights into how non-Western societies negotiated their own paths to modernity.
This innovative study will appeal to historians, cultural studies scholars, and anyone interested in the history of work, productivity culture, and Ottoman intellectual history.
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