Automation and the Future of Work

Aaron Benanav

ISBN 10: 1839761296 / ISBN 13: 9781839761294

Published by Verso Books, GB, 2020

About this Item

Silicon Valley titans, politicians, techno-futurists and social critics have united in arguing that we are living on the cusp of an era of rapid technological automation, heralding the end of work as we know it. But does the much-discussed 'rise of the robots' really explain the jobs crisis that awaits us on the other side of the coronavirus? In Automation and the Future of Work, Aaron Benanav uncovers the structural economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future. What social movements, he asks, are required to propel us into post-scarcity, if technological innovation alone can't deliver it? In response to calls for a universal basic income that would maintain a growing army of redundant workers, he offers a counter-proposal.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781839761294

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Automation and the Future of Work
• Publisher: Verso Books, GB
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1839761296
• ISBN 13: 9781839761294
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 272 grams

About this title

Synopsis

A consensus-shattering account of automation technologies and their effect on workplaces and the labor market

In this consensus-shattering account of automation technologies, Aaron Benanav investigates the economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future.

Silicon Valley titans, politicians, techno-futurists, and social critics have united in arguing that we are on the cusp of an era of rapid technological automation, heralding the end of work as we know it. But does the muchdiscussed “rise of the robots” really explain the long-term decline in the demand for labor?

Automation and the Future of Work uncovers the deep weaknesses of twenty-first-century capitalism and the reasons why the engine of economic growth keeps stalling. Equally important, Benanav goes on to salvage from automation discourse its utopian content: the positive vision of a world without work. What social movements, he asks, are required to propel us into post-scarcity if technological innovation alone can’t deliver it? In response to calls for a permanent universal basic income that would maintain a growing army of redundant workers, he offers a groundbreaking counterproposal.

About the Author

Aaron Benanav is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Syracuse University. He has written for the Guardian, the Nation and New Left Review.