Progress Without People New Technology, Unemployment, and the Message of Resistance

Progress Without People: New Technology, Unemployment, and the Message of Resistance By David F. Noble
1995 | 184 Pages | ISBN: 1896357008 | PDF | 4 MB
A provocative discussion of the role of technology and its accompanying rhetoric of limitless progress in the concomitant rise of joblessness and unemployment."There is agreaqt deal of justifiable concern about global unemployment and the 'jobless economy' of the future, with growing inequality and marginalization of much of the population, even in the wealthier countries. The Tendencies are commonly attributed to inexorable market forces and the like."David Noble's outstanding work shows the shallowness of these analyses. He shows how particular modes of deskilling and marginalizing the workforce have been specifically designed through the state sector in co-operation of unaccountable private power that seek their mastery over the global economy and society. Progress Without People is a masterful and lucid portrayal of what is happening in the real world of state-corporate power, and what it means for the people of the world."--Noam Chomsky"The Age which first automated factories and the age which automates them are alike. We know that the job killing of the late 18th and 19th centuries hurt both the cottage workers, their communities and a system of production that extended far beyond people like hand-loom weavers. We know workers defended themselves by direct attacks on the new looms and machines intended for factory use. These movements came to be known as Luddism."It is the subject area that David Noble goes to immediately to provide a detailed analysis of the effects of automation in its mechanized and computerized forms. He knows how history has been distorted so that the term 'Luddite' can be used to target any who try to save their jobs and control conditions of life in industrial, office, retail or service jobs."--Eric Hobsbawm