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The coupling between the dissolution of the old social pact and the emergence of new technologies in the (resistible) path toward the abyss

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  • Giovanni Dosi

Abstract

There are at least three existential challenges to contemporary societies, as we know them namely first, the complete rupture of the social pact which characterized Glorious Decades after WWII in most of Western societies; and second, the deepening of the patterns of informatization and "intelligent" automation with the associated modifications in labour relations and mechanisms of social control. All that, third, is coupled with a climate crisis that might have well reached a tipping point toward a global ecological disaster. Here I shall briefly discuss the first, and even more briefly the second one, ending with some urgent policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Dosi, 2025. "The coupling between the dissolution of the old social pact and the emergence of new technologies in the (resistible) path toward the abyss," LEM Papers Series 2025/15, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2025/15
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew C. Mahutga & Manjing Gao & Roshan K. Pandian, 2025. "Global Value Chains and Union Decline in Rich Democracies," American Sociological Review, , vol. 90(2), pages 195-225, April.
    2. Giovanni Dosi & Lucrezia Fanti & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2024. "Attributes and Trends of Rentified Capitalism," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(2), pages 435-457, July.
    3. Giovanni DOSI & Maria Enrica VIRGILLITO, 2019. "Whither the evolution of the contemporary social fabric? New technologies and old socio‐economic trends," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(4), pages 593-625, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Conflict; Social Pact; Inequality; Artificial Intelligence and Labour Processes; Environmental Crisis; Policy Objectives;
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