Abstract

In this paper we have two main goals. The first is to challenge two key elements of reductionist thinking concerning human work inherited from the Information and Communication Technology revolution that have significantly shaped current concepts of work at both the individual and institutional level: the ‘flexible man’ model and the obsession with the objective function of economic productivity. We show how, combined with the logic of productivity as a means for continuous economic growth, these elements justify the overlapping of value and price. This overlap characterizes current meritocratic paradigms. Our second goal is to show how and why an emerging integrated paradigm is a more suitable model for taking into consideration the specifically human dimensions of work. These dimensions encompass the sphere of caring and are mostly buried in the functionalist-mechanistic system. In this context, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic can work as an exogenous shock useful to boost the rise of this new paradigm of human work.