Notes Towards a Digital Worker's Inquiry - by Capacitor Collective (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A theory-driven account of the stakes and significance of the resurgent labor movement from organizers across the gig economy and tech industry.

It's been 50 years since Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and almost 45 years since Ronald Reagan broke the back of the Air Traffic Controllers union. In the past half century, union membership in the United States dwindled to half of what it once was, and, somewhat predictably, workers at every level have seen their wages stagnate, their economic security erode, and their benefits fall away, even as the economy has transformed and dozens of new billionaires were minted.

But it still takes workers to make these fortunes for the bosses, and unions are again on the rise. This time the rank and file are coming from the precarious new "gig jobs" and drawing strength from a new class of worker who does the jobs that computers still cannot. Previously thought to be "unorganizable," these workers are part of a North American groundswell in new union activity. To capture this growing class consciousness as it happens, the Platform Organizing Project has conducted ten illuminating interviews with the movement's movers and shakers, connecting old motivations and new tactics in a text that recalls Studs Terkel's Working and updates the methods made famous by Saul Alinsky.

About the Author

Capacitor Collective is a research collective dedicated to digital worker inquiry rooted in labor organizing within and against digital capitalism. The collective includes: Enda Brophy, Julie Chen, Alessandro Delfanti, Brian Dolber, Lilly Irani, and Tamara Kneese.

Contributors include:

Enda Brophy is a professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

Julie Yujie Chen is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

Hiu Fung Chung is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.

Alessandro Delfanti is a professor at the University of Toronto.

Wei Ding is a professor at Shenzhen University.

Brian Dolber is an associate professor at California State University San Marcos.

Victoria Fleming is a PhD candidate at York University in Toronto.

Cailean Gallagher is an associate lecturer at the University of St. Andrews.

Qi Ge is a taxi driver with the Shenzhen V Fleet.

Seamus Bright Grayer is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University School of Communication.

Erik H is an organizer, systems engineer, and food service worker in Seattle.

Alex Hanna is director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute.

Mostafa Henaway is an organizer with the Immigrant Workers' Centre in Montreal.

Mikaiil Hussein is the President of United Taxi Workers San Diego.

Lilly Irani is a professor at the University of California San Diego.

Krystal K and Phil are organizers at Turkopticon.

Tamara Kneese is a research director at Data & Society.

Diana Limbaga is a graduate student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

Sarah Jean Salman is a Communication PhD student at Cornell University.

Tyler Sandness is a member of Rideshare Drivers United and former Lyft driver.

Kate Sim is a researcher and organizer with No Tech for Apartheid and TWC.

RK Upadhya is an electrical engineer based in San Antonio and an organizer with TWC and IWW.

Milla Vodello is the pseudonym of an organizer with the Amazon Worker Solidarity group in Toronto.

Peter Zschiesche is a founder of the Employee Rights Center in San Diego.