Consensus-shattering account of automation technologies and labour-market malfunctions.
Silicon Valley titans, politicians, techno-futurists and social critics have united in arguing that we are living through an era of rapid technological automation, heralding the end of work as such. But does the much-discussed ‘rise of the robots’ really explain the looming jobs crisis?In Automation and the Future of Work, Aaron Benanav uncovers the deeper-lying stresses on 21st century capitalism, before salvaging 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? In response to calls for a universal basic income which would maintain a growing army of redundant workers, he offers a counter-proposal.
“"A powerful and persuasive explanation of why capitalism can't create jobs or generate incomes for a majority of humanity." --Mike Davis, author of Set the Night on Fire "An excellent, insightful account of the contours of our present labor crisis. Benanav articulately makes the case for a post-scarcity future." --Robert Skidelsky, biographer of John Maynard Keynes "A highly quantitative analysis of the nature of contemporary unemployment flowers into something quite different and unexpected: a qualitative argument for the invention of new collective capacities in a world where work is no longer central to social life." --Kristin Ross, author of Communal Luxury "A rare book that manages to soberly assess the contemporary landscape while keeping a clear eye on our utopian horizons. This is an important intervention into current discussions around technology and work--and a must-read for anyone who believes capitalist decay is not the only future." --Nick Srnicek, author of Platform Capitalism”
Aaron Benanav demolishes the popular myths around automation -- Ben Tarnoff, editor of Logic magazine
A powerful and persuasive explanation of why capitalism can't create jobs or generate incomes for a majority of humanity. -- Mike Davis, author of Set the Night on Fire
An excellent, insightful account of the contours of our present labor crisis. Benanav articulately makes the case for a post-scarcity future. -- Robert Skidelsky, biographer of John Maynard Keynes
A highly quantitative analysis of the nature of contemporary unemployment flowers into something quite different and unexpected: a qualitative argument for the invention of new collective capacities in a world where work is no longer central to social life. -- Kristin Ross, author of Communal Luxury
A rare book that manages to soberly assess the contemporary landscape while keeping a clear eye on our utopian horizons. This is an important intervention into current discussions around technology and work - and a must-read for anyone who believes capitalist decay is not the only future. Nick Srnicek, author of Platform Capitalism
Benanav dissects and disproves the idea that automation is eradicating work ... We don't need to wait for robots to do all the work; we can collectively decide what we need, then plan the economy to achieve it. -- Paris Marx Passage
Thought-provoking ... packs quite a punch of macroeconomics and practical philosophy. -- International Policy Digest
He can write movingly and do so on a global scale -- Patrick McGinty Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The two parts of Benanav's book-analytic and utopian-correspond to the two halves of the Marxian project: to both interpret the world, and change it -- Lola Seaton New Statesman
Compelling reading. A rising star among the intelligentsia of the left Dublin Review of Books
A powerful critique ... [Benanav] carefully chart[s] how our economic system is unable to deliver further social progress and ... set[s] out a believable vision of a non-capitalist future. -- Alexis Moraitis ROAR
Crucial ... Automation and the Future of Work is impressively multifaceted for such a short text ... an excellent book. -- Mack Penner Labour / Le Travail
Automation and the Future of Work gathers significant cold water to pour on automation's fever dreams. -- Amelia Horgan Radical Philosophy
Important ... an eye-opening perspective for a convincing and encouraging political project -- Görkem Giray Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
Aaron Benanav is a post-doctoral researcher at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
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