Smart Machines and Service Work

Name: Smart Machines and Service Work
Brand: NewSouth Books
SKU: 9781789143188
Price: 39.99 NZD
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Automation in an Age of Stagnation

By Jason E. Smith

Series: Field Notes

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4.09

( 46 ratings, 5 reviews)

Summary

Smart Machines and Service Work by Jason E. Smith examines the impact of digital automation on workers' lives amidst economic slowdown and growing inequality. It challenges the popular vision of an automation-driven age by revealing a landscape marked by low growth, an expanding low-paid service sector, and renewed class conflicts. Smith presents a critical analysis of how labour-intensive jobs and poor working conditions have reshaped the workforce, highlighting the rise of new forms of worker resistance in this era of stagnant productivity and widening social divides.
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Format: Hardback

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is essential reading for students and scholars of economics, sociology, and labour studies, as well as policymakers and readers interested in the social and economic impacts of technology and automation. It suits anyone seeking a critical perspective on the future of work and inequality in a digital age.

A trenchant expose of the effects of automation on worker's lives

Description

A trenchant exposé of the effects of automation on workers' lives

In recent decades, digital devices have reshaped daily life, while tech companies' stock prices have thrust them to the forefront of the business world. In this rapid, global development, the promise of a new machine age has been accompanied by worries about accelerated joblessness thanks to new forms of automation.

Jason E. Smith looks behind the techno-hype to lay out the realities of a period of economic slowdown and expanding debt: low growth rates and an increase of labour-intensive jobs at the bottom of the service sector. He shows how increasing inequality and poor working conditions have led to new forms of workers' struggles. Ours is less an age of automation, Smith contends, than one in which stagnation is intertwined with class conflict.

Series: Field Notes

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as one of the most insightful books on the social consequences of technological change, Smart Machines and Service Work offers a reality check on the promises of automation. Critics commend Smith’s Marxist analysis of the service sector's precariat and the persistence of economic stagnation despite technological advances. Reviews note its thoughtful challenge to mainstream ideas of a society moving towards abundance through IT and AI, calling it a vital guide to understanding contemporary labour dynamics.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781789143188

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 16 November 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Reaktion Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 160

Collections

Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Jason E. Smith Non-Fiction Series: Field Notes

About the Author

Jason E. Smith lives in Los Angeles. He has written extensively on contemporary politics and political economy, in journals including the Brooklyn Rail, Critical Inquiry, Radical Philosophy, SAQ and elsewhere.