IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v31y2017i1p142-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Work in and beyond the Second Machine Age: the politics of production and digital technologies

Author

Listed:
  • David Spencer

Abstract

Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, in their widely read and politically impactful book The Second Machine Age , highlight the costs and benefits of digital technologies for the volume and quality of work and identify reforms designed to ensure that digital technologies deliver net advantages to workers and society more generally. This article offers a critique of their thesis. Specifically, it criticizes the authors for their neglect of the nexus between the politics of production and digital technologies. They fail, in short, to grasp the importance of power relations for the form, direction and outcomes of digital technologies. The article argues for an alternative view of the progress of digital technologies that is rooted in an understanding of the political economy of capitalism. In this respect, it draws on and applies ideas and concepts from Marxian political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • David Spencer, 2017. "Work in and beyond the Second Machine Age: the politics of production and digital technologies," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(1), pages 142-152, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:1:p:142-152
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017016645716
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017016645716
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017016645716?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duncan K. Foley, 2000. "Recent Developments in the Labor Theory of Value," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 1-39, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Massimo Cingolani, 2015. "Sylos Labini su Marx: implicazioni per la politica economica (Sylos Labini on Marx: economic policy implications)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 68(269), pages 81-147.
    2. Simon Mohun & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "Value, Price, And Exploitation: The Logic Of The Transformation Problem," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1387-1420, December.
    3. Eckhard Hein, 2019. "Karl Marx: an early post-Keynesian? A comparison of Marx's economics with the contributions by Sraffa, Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 16(2), pages 238-259, September.
    4. I.N. Sycheva & E.M. Akhmetshin & A.N. Dunets & I.A. Svistula & T.A. Panteleeva & I.Yu. Potashova, 2018. "Labour Relations in Research of Socio-economic Systems," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 356-367.
    5. Andrea Ricci, 2016. "Metamorphoses of Value.The Concept of a Commodity in Marx’s Capital," Working Papers 1609, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2016.
    6. Jonathan F. Cogliano, 2021. "Marx's Equalized Rate of Exploitation," Working Papers 2021-01, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    7. Bill Lucarelli, 2011. "The Economics of Financial Turbulence," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14252.
    8. Piluso, Nicolas, 2014. "Postulat de la monnaie et théorie de la valeur chez Marx," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 15.
    9. Rotta, Tomás N., 2021. "Effective Demand and Prices of Production: An Evolutionary Approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 90-105.
    10. Rémy Herrera & Zhiming Long & Zhixuan Feng & Bangxi Li, 2023. "Turning One’s Loss Into a Win?," Post-Print hal-04367750, HAL.
    11. Cavalieri, Duccio, 2013. "On the theory of capital in post-industrial societies," MPRA Paper 51719, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Gabriel Montes-Rojas, 2017. "A Capital Invariant Solution to the Marxian Transformation Problem," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 114-124, March.
    13. Gennady Bilych, 2013. "Marx¡¯s Labor Theory of Value. Misleading or Truth?," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 3(1), pages 212-226, June.
    14. Jonathan F. Cogliano, 2017. "Surplus Value Production and Realization in Marxian Theory - Applications to the U.S., 1987-2015," Working Paper Series 2017-01, Dickinson College, Department of Economics.
    15. Ernesto Screpanti, 2015. "The Demise of Marx’s Labour Theory of Value and the ‘New Interpretation’: A Recap Note," Department of Economics University of Siena 708, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    16. Andrea Ricci, 2016. "Unequal Exchange in International Trade:A General Model," Working Papers 1605, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2016.
    17. Gabriel V. Montes‐Rojas, 2023. "A typology of Marxian transformation procedures with endogenous exploitation rate," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 119-137, February.
    18. Robin Eric Hahnel, 2021. "Response to Moseley," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 525-534, September.
    19. repec:ers:journl:v:volumexxi:y:2018:i:issue4:p:356-367 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Roberto Veneziani, 2004. "The Temporal Single‐system Interpretation of Marx's Economics: A Critical Evaluation," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 96-114, February.
    21. Simon Mohun, 2004. "The Labour Theory of Value as Foundation for Empirical Investigations," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 65-95, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:1:p:142-152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.