Author: Dr. V.K. Narayanan (PGP 1973)
Reviewed by: P.B. Varadharajan (PGP 1973)
Dr. V.K. Narayanan (PGP 1973), an academic at Drexel University, USA, has authored Workless Society: Expansion of the Leisure Class, published by World Scientific Publishing in 2026. The book runs to approximately 150 pages (ISBN: 9789819827749). As a fellow batchmate and an active member of the Email group of the batch, as well as the IIMA Alumni-Chennai Chapter, I am privileged to review it after reading the book.
The Book Workless Society is organized into 10 chapters, and each chapter gives the “Abstract” right at the beginning and References at the end of each chapter, showing the extensive research he has done on other authors related to the subject. At the end, there is an alphabetical index with over 400 words, and hence the book is professionally done. It is easy to read and comprehend.
The prospect of a workless or post-labor society fueled by AI and automation has shifted from science fiction into mainstream economics, sociology, and philosophy. Numerous prominent thinkers, economists, and tech leaders have written extensively about what happens when human labour is no longer an economic necessity.
He gives a good explanation of the Title of the book, Workless Society: Expansion of the Leisure Class – which is intriguing the attention. First, he begins by defining what is commonly assumed to be work, starting with Thorstein Veblen classic and tracing others during the 20th century and the effects of Robotics and Digitization that have modified factory work. The recent AI wave- with automatic reasoning processes-still underway, is a good base to project the nature of future work- especially at MBA & analysis of data with more conclusions drawn by the machines and models than from Human brain. The relationship to the leisure class is referred to in several parts of the book
Whereas earlier work on the subject was towards organizational efficiency and human satisfaction, he also outlines the roles of Economists who view technology as a critical input in the work. He also brings out the dark side that may be barriers- such as Scarcity mindset and need for control (by C-suites). He points out the need for US Government policies- such as minimum wages, Health care, and Universal basic income- as hot buttons. Such policy changes may need to address the Governance structures as well. He concludes making a reference to Silicon valley that has been the main driving force behind the AI wave sweeping USA. It deals with an interesting and forward-looking subject. Recommended for Faculty, Alumni & students of MBAs of major Institutes in English-speaking countries.
The author of the book is one of the 8 from our PGP73 batch (internally referred to as Costiima) who went to the USA in the eighties and acquired a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Apart from his academic engagements, he has also been a consultant to large Pharma and High Tech companies in Strategy & Innovation. He has authored several books earlier. His USA contact email details are: vkn22@drexel.edu (for those interested in getting in touch from the IIMA family)
The reviewer, P.B. Varadharajan (PGP 1973), is based in Adyar, Chennai, and is presently in San Francisco, USA.
