The Making of a Cybertariat : Virtual Work in a Real World

Ursula Huws

ISBN 10: 1583670882 / ISBN 13: 9781583670880

Published by Monthly Review Press Jul 2003, 2003

About this Item

Neuware - The workplace has been changed in recent decades by the rise of digital technologies. Parts of a single labor process can be moved around the world, with implications not only for individual workplaces, but for the working class as a whole. Within advanced capitalist countries, the workplace has been made more flexible through cell phones, e-mail, freelancing, and outsourcing. The process often makes the situation of the workers more precarious, as they are forced to pay for the tools of their trade, are expected to be constantly accessible to workplace demands, and are isolated from their fellow workers. Huws' The Making of a Cybertariat examines this process from a number of perspectives, including those of women in the workplace and at home. It explores changing categories of employment and modes of organization, and how new divisions of race and gender are created in the process. It questions how the virtual workforce can identify their common interests and stand together to struggle for them. The Making of a Cybertariat is both a testament to the author's remarkable record in the politics of technology over several decades and a vital resource for grasping ongoing debates and controversies in this field.

Seller Inventory # 9781583670880

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Making of a Cybertariat : Virtual Work in a Real World
• Publisher: Monthly Review Press Jul 2003
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1583670882
• ISBN 13: 9781583670880
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 202W x 135H x 14D millimeters 202 millimeters width by 135 millimeters height by 14 millimeters depth
• Weight: 227 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The workplace has been changed in recent decades by the rise of digital technologies. Parts of a single labor process can be moved around the world, with implications not only for individual workplaces, but for the working class as a whole.
Within advanced capitalist countries, the workplace has been made more flexible through cell phones, e-mail, freelancing, and outsourcing. The process often makes the situation of the workers more precarious, as they are forced to pay for the tools of their trade, are expected to be constantly accessible to workplace demands, and are isolated from their fellow workers.
Huws' The Making of a Cybertariat examines this process from a number of perspectives, including those of women in the workplace and at home. It explores changing categories of employment and modes of organization, and how new divisions of race and gender are created in the process. It questions how the virtual workforce can identify their common interests and stand together to struggle for them.
The Making of a Cybertariat is both a testament to the author's remarkable record in the politics of technology over several decades and a vital resource for grasping ongoing debates and controversies in this field.

About the Authors

Ursula Huws is Professor of Labour and Globalisation at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, and founder of Analytica Social and Economic Research. She is the author of The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World.

Colin Leys is Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.