Canaries in the Code Mine: Precarity and the Future of Tech Work - Hardcover

Papadantonakis, Max

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1439925771 ISBN 13: 9781439925775

Publisher: Temple University Press, 2025

Synopsis

The idea that the tech industry is a secure field with jobs and opportunities for growth is a myth. There is widespread precarity among software developers, who experience uncertainty, anxiety, and imposter syndrome as technological advancements threaten job security. Max Papadantonakis investigates this phenomenon in his revealing study, Canaries in the Code Mine. He indicates that precarity is not just about the risk of losing one’s job; it is about living in a career where basic needs and rights are not guaranteed.

Interviewing 120 software developers from leading tech firms, Papadantonakis shows how temporary contracts, project cancellations, and company downsizing undermine the security of even highly skilled professionals. He also highlights the systemic inequalities that shape the tech industry, showing how age, race, and gender often dictate the opportunities and responsibilities software developers have—or are denied.  

Canaries in the Code Mine highlights a disturbing reality of privilege and vulnerability within the tech industry. Papadantonakis engages in a critical discourse on the evolving nature of work in the digital era, emphasizing the need to shape an equitable future in the rapidly evolving landscape.

About this title

About the Author

Max Papadantonakis is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences and Global Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1439925771
• ISBN 13: 9781439925775
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 148