The Social Codes of Tech Workers: A Contradictory Middle Class in the Making

Dorschel, Robert

ISBN 10: 0262553538 / ISBN 13: 9780262553537

Published by The MIT Press, 2025

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 409314407

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Social Codes of Tech Workers: A Contradictory Middle Class in the Making
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262553538
• ISBN 13: 9780262553537
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

How the coders of our digital worlds think, work, and live.

Digital technologies shape nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet little attention has been paid to the tech workers who design and program these technologies. Instead, the spotlight often falls on two extremes: the elite class of tech entrepreneurs and the precarious digital proletariat of gig and crowd workers. This narrow focus has left a critical gap in understanding the middle-class professionals operating behind the scenes of digital capitalism.

Drawing on over 50 original interviews and discourse analytical research conducted in the US and Germany, The Social Codes of Tech Workers takes readers deep into their hearts and minds. Robert Dorschel demonstrates how tech workers’ subjectivity is structured by a return of social critique, hybrid professional roles, and distinctive lifestyles. The book identifies tech workers as a contradictory class formation, oscillating between a spirit of emancipation and yet another spirit of capitalism. This work will appeal to scholars across disciplines concerned with digital labor, identity, and class, as well as to the broader public interested in the culture of the tech industry and the evolving future of work.

About the Author

Robert Dorschel is Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology at the University of Cambridge. His work has been recognized with awards from the Association of Internet Researchers and the German Sociological Association.