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.


 

About Research Seminar and Workshop Series

 


School of Communication and Arts Research Seminar Series

The research seminar and workshop series occur each semester, each with a different topic and guest speaker from UQ or otherwise.

Friday, 4 August
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

After the Future: Heat, Collapse, and Exhausting the “Future of Work”

Dr Luke Munn

Friday, 25 August
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Promoting children’s environmental responsibility in the EFL classroomDr Valentina Adami

Friday, 1 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Write FOR your reader vs. writing WITH your reader: human-centred design in professional communication

and

Portraying Asian-diasporic identity beyond the limits of the literary label Asian-Australian

Catriona Arthy

and

Olivia De Zilva

Friday, 8 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Exploring Digital Humanities through the Lens of Journalism: A Case Study of Reader Comment Analysis

Dr Lujain Shafeeq

Friday, 15 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

The Medicalised Body - On Illness, Humour, and Sexuality

and

Talkin about the thing that stops me writing about the thing Im talkin about: Hacking and Hofstadter on the looping effect of diagnostic labels and writing the strange double

Carly-Jay Metcalfe and Bianca Millroy

Friday, 22 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Coping with eco-anxiety: A guided journal trialDr Ans Vercammen and Dr Skye Doherty

 

Venue

Online via Zoom and in-person at the SCA Writer's Studio (Level 6, Michie Building)