Automation Is a Myth (Hardcover)

For some, automation will usher in a labor-free utopia; for others, it signals a disastrous age-to-come. Yet whether seen as dream or nightmare, automation, argues Munn, is ultimately a fable that rests on a set of triple fictions. There is the myth of full autonomy, claiming that machines will take over production and supplant humans. But far from being self-acting, technical solutions are piecemeal; their support and maintenance reveals the immense human labor behind "autonomous" processes. There is the myth of universal automation, with technologies framed as a desituated force sweeping the globe. But this fiction ignores the social, cultural, and geographical forces that shape technologies at a local level. And, there is the myth of automating everyone, the generic figure of "the human" at the heart of automation claims. But labor is socially stratified and so automation's fallout will be highly uneven, falling heavier on some (immigrants, people of color, women) than others. Munn moves from machine minders in China to warehouse pickers in the United States to explore the ways that new technologies do (and don't) reconfigure labor. Combining this rich array of human stories with insights from media and cultural studies, Munn points to a more nuanced, localized, and racialized understanding of the "future of work."

General

Imprint:	Stanford University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	March 2022
First published:	2022
Authors:	Luke Munn
Dimensions:	216 x 140mm (L x W)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	184
ISBN-13:	978-1-5036-3111-3
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > General Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Political economy Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > Impact of science & technology on society
LSN:	1-5036-3111-7
Barcode:	9781503631113

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