Abstract A wealth of new writing has emerged around the future of labour, focusing on thinking beyond employment in imagining the futures of ‘surplus populations’ no longer needed by labour markets. These new imaginaries include radically expanded forms of redistribution, such as unconditional cash transfers or universal basic income. But what are the views of the ‘surplus populations’ themselves? This article uses ethnographic research in an informal settlement in South Africa to understand why the unemployed or precariously employed poor are themselves often reluctant to delink labour and income. In particular, we focus on the discursive use of ‘laziness’ by urban unemployed young men. The varied (and often contradictory) ways in which these men employ the laziness discourse sheds light on the logics linking waged work and money in our informants’ social imaginaries. It illuminates the underlying contradictions and complexities of such logics, including those of gender, relational obligations, expectations of citizenship, and the inevitable tensions between aspirational hopes and economic realities. To begin thinking ‘beyond the proper job’, to use Ferguson and Li's phrase, we must unravel and understand such nuanced logics that continue to bind together hard work, deservingness and cash – even for those left out of labour markets.

中文翻译：

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劳动、懒惰和分配：南非失业者的工作想象

摘要 围绕劳动力的未来出现了大量新著作，重点关注就业以外的思考，想象劳动力市场不再需要的“过剩人口”的未来。这些新的想象包括彻底扩展的再分配形式，例如无条件现金转移或全民基本收入。但是，“过剩人口”本身的看法是什么？本文在南非的一个非正式定居点使用人种学研究来理解为什么失业或不稳定就业的穷人自己往往不愿意将劳动和收入脱钩。我们特别关注城市失业青年对“懒惰”的话语使用。这些人运用懒惰话语的各种（通常是相互矛盾的）方式揭示了我们线人的社会想象中将有薪工作与金钱联系起来的逻辑。它阐明了这些逻辑的潜在矛盾和复杂性，包括性别、关系义务、公民期望以及理想与经济现实之间不可避免的紧张关系。要开始思考“超越合适的工作”，用弗格森和李的话说，我们必须解开并理解这种细微的逻辑，这些逻辑继续将努力工作、应得的报酬和现金联系在一起——即使是那些被排除在劳动力市场之外的人。以及雄心勃勃的希望与经济现实之间不可避免的紧张关系。要开始思考“超越合适的工作”，用弗格森和李的话说，我们必须解开和理解这种细微的逻辑，这些逻辑继续将努力工作、应得的利益和现金联系在一起——即使是那些被排除在劳动力市场之外的人。以及雄心勃勃的希望与经济现实之间不可避免的紧张关系。要开始思考“超越合适的工作”，用弗格森和李的话说，我们必须解开和理解这种细微的逻辑，这些逻辑继续将努力工作、应得的利益和现金联系在一起——即使是那些被排除在劳动力市场之外的人。