What is the significance of a break in contemporary society? The first thought that comes to mind when one thinks of a break is accompanied by a sense of slowing down.
Relaxed, comfortable and calm are further emotions that immediately spring to mind in this context. Yet the reality of everyday life looks quite different:
sparsely furnished rooms, mostly uncomfortable chairs, cold, industrial overhead lighting and being surrounded by one’s own working environment. A place that does allow for a break from work, but is purely functional.
In the neoliberal view of society, there is no place for breaks or active interruptions to work. Always confined to the workplace and limited to a minimum in terms of time, the purpose of a break is to increase the work efficiency of the worker, student or pupil – the human capital.
