William Morris’s utopian plan to cut working hours | Letters

William Morris (Review, 22 February) did indeed suggest in News from Nowhere that everyone could and would enjoy work, but his utopia is not “predicated on” that idea alone, but on abolition of the profit motive. This key economic change, Morris believed, would indeed make work pleasurable, and also lead to better working conditions, improved human health, cleaner air and rivers, and many other social and ecological benefits, so that “Nowhere” is by far the greenest of all utopias. He also earlier wrote (A Factory As It Might Be, 1884) that once “profit-grinding” had come to an end, much less labour would be necessary, namely “within the mark, four hours a day”. So, for Morris, our working hours under socialism would not only be pleasurable, but very much shorter than those of today.
Dr Patrick O’Sullivan
Former editor, Journal of William Morris Studies

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