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- Unpaid (The Past, Present and Future of Wage Theft)
Unpaid (The Past, Present and Future of Wage Theft)
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Product Details
Author:
Matthew Cole
Format:
Paperback
Pages:
288
Publisher:
Verso Books (May 26, 2026)
Release Date:
May 26, 2026
Language:
English
Audience:
General/trade
ISBN-13:
9781804295663
ISBN-10:
1804295663
Weight:
9.8oz
Dimensions:
5.48" x 8.26" x 0.71"
File:
RandomHouse-PRH_Book_Company_PRH_PRT_Onix_delta_active_D20260525T232850_156350685-20260525.xml
Folder:
RandomHouse
List Price:
$24.95
Country of Origin:
United Kingdom
Pub Discount:
65
Case Pack:
40
As low as:
$19.21
Publisher Identifier:
P-RH
Discount Code:
A
QuickShip:
Yes
Imprint:
Verso
Overview
Why work doesn’t pay
Unpaid upends conventional wisdom about how we value work, exposing wage theft as one of capitalism’s enduring open secrets. From unpaid overtime and under-the-table jobs to algorithmic exploitation, there are as many ways to steal wages as there are to pay them. But what if wage theft isn’t a bug but a feature of capitalism itself?
Across the world, millions of workers exhaust themselves in billions of hours of free labour. As app-based gig work becomes increasingly common, exploitation grows more sophisticated and harder to detect.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Blending personal stories with a fresh, accessible take, Unpaid traces the long history of wage theft and reveals how employers continue to get away with it. Matthew Cole shows that wage theft is not just about broken laws but about the nature of property itself. He makes a powerful case for our collective right to reassert our labour-power.
Unpaid upends conventional wisdom about how we value work, exposing wage theft as one of capitalism’s enduring open secrets. From unpaid overtime and under-the-table jobs to algorithmic exploitation, there are as many ways to steal wages as there are to pay them. But what if wage theft isn’t a bug but a feature of capitalism itself?
Across the world, millions of workers exhaust themselves in billions of hours of free labour. As app-based gig work becomes increasingly common, exploitation grows more sophisticated and harder to detect.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Blending personal stories with a fresh, accessible take, Unpaid traces the long history of wage theft and reveals how employers continue to get away with it. Matthew Cole shows that wage theft is not just about broken laws but about the nature of property itself. He makes a powerful case for our collective right to reassert our labour-power.








