Are we our work? Selected chapters from David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs

This session is hosted by Premise. Meetup members can attend the session at no cost.

We ask that you sign up to attend the session on the Premise website so we can send you the pdf of the reading, Zoom link, and add you to the calendar invite directly.

🔗 Session details and registration: https://www.premiseinstitute.com/event-details/are-we-our-work-4

💸 Use the code "spokanemeetup" if you're unable to pay and want to attend at no cost. We use all registration fees to grow and expand Premise and provide guided, meaningful conversations for as many people as possible in the U.S.

📍 This is an online session — Zoom link provided after registration.

Are We Our Work?

Selected chapters from David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs
⏱️ Preparation: ~1.5 hours of reading (we’ll send a pdf of chapters after you sign up)

We will send you the reading and Zoom link after you've registered on the Premise site.

Description:
David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs makes a bold claim: millions of people, especially in white-collar jobs, secretly believe their work is meaningless—and it’s messing with their sense of self.

In this session, we’ll explore the strange paradox of modern labor: Why do we tie our identity so tightly to what we do, even when the work feels pointless? And what happens when we start to question that link?

We’ll explore questions like:
— What makes a job “bullshit”? And who gets to decide?
— Why does meaningless work create such deep psychological harm?
— If your job vanished tomorrow, how much of you would go with it?
— Can we imagine a society where people work less—and still feel fulfilled?

What to Expect:
✔️ A short, thought-provoking reading (~2 hrs to read in advance)
✔️ An opportunity to zoom out and do some "sense-making" together before we talk about the reading
✔️ A small group conversation guided by a facilitator
✔️ No lectures—just real talk about life’s big questions

Whether you’re retired, hustling, burned out, or just wondering what your job actually contributes—you’ll find good company here. Together, we'll try to make sense of the question: Are we our work?