To live a decent life: a critical perspective on meaningful work through literary fiction analysis

Given its positive implications at the workers, organizations, and societal level, the phenomenon of meaningful work is receiving considerable attention by scholarly authors and practitioners. The literature in the field has seen an extensive spread of contributions referring to different disciplines. However, the expanding views on meaningful work conceptualizations reflect a certain level of contestations between authors in the field. This paper investigates the phenomenon of meaningful work and interrogates the complexity and variety of ways by which meaningful work can be experienced. To pursue these aims, the paper presents an analysis of Primo Levi’s The Wrench and relates to it as a means to extend the knowledge on the subject of meaningful work in the context of work and organizational psychology. Levi’s fictional novel is an explicit attempt at proposing an emancipatory account on the meaning of work, in which the author advances the idea that work is meaningful independently of individual experience and social representations. As such, work is conducive to human flourishing and makes life worth living. Drawing on this ideal of work, the analysis illustrates the organizational and institutional duties and responsibilities for meaningful work.