Research Seminar - From Fatigue Studies to Burnout: A Brief History of Work Exhaustion

From Fatigue Studies to Burnout: A Brief History of Work Exhaustion

Presented by: A/Prof Elizabeth Stephens

Date: Friday 31 March 2023
Time: 12-1pm
Location: Online via Zoom and in-person at the SCA Writer's Studio (Level 6, Michie Building)

Abstract

This presentation examines the shift in conceptualising overwork and exhaustion in the fields of industrial and time management represented by the transformation of the concept of fatigue into that of burnout. In their 1916 book Fatigue Study, Frank and Lilian Gilbreth argued that fatigue was the inevitable consequence of work, so that maximising labour productivity required minimising unnecessary fatigue. The problem of fatigue is structural, they argued, and its solution to be standardised. This approach is quite different to that of modern concepts of burnout, which are highly psychologised and individualised. This presentation will examine the shift from fatigue to burnout not simply as a response to changed working conditions, but as representative of different imaginaries and models for understanding the working body. 

Presenter

Elizabeth Stephens is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. Her recently completed ARC Future Fellowship examined the history of experimentation as a shared practice between the arts and sciences. She is currently completing a collaborative ARC DP on the cultural and intellectual history of automation, with Oron Catts, Sarah Collins and Ionat Zurr at UWA. Her books include Normality: A Critical Genealogy (Chicago, 2017), co-authored with Peter Cryle.