Will we work in twenty-first century capitalism? A critique of the fourth industrial revolution literature

Abstract

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New technologies, potential unemployment and ‘nescience economy’ during and after the 2020 economic crisis

“…The reduction and redistribution of employment may not lead to negative social consequences, since the labour market is gradually adapting, the share of non‐routine, creative activity, freelance is increasing, and the share of working time is decreasing (Kapeliushnikov, 2019; Morgan, 2019). The very concept of the natural unemployment rate may disappear.…”

i4.0, 3D printing, deglobalisation and new manufacturing clusters: The view from Australia

“…It is in this vein that Reischauer (2018) has interpreted Industry 4.0 as a policy driven discourse intended to embed a digitally driven innovation system in manufacturing production, fulfilling capital’s essential drive to expand in the form of a digitally-driven regime of accumulation. This is what Morgan (2019: 14) defines as a ‘quasi-determinism’ where ‘anxiety combined with passivity and complacency are being produced’. Pfeiffer (2017b) has also interpreted i4.0 as a marketing exercise that provides an imaginary vision of a future in which none of the sociological implications have been given much detail.…”

The New Economy and Youth Justice

“…The global structure of labor has been fundamentally transformed in contemporary Western democracies in what has been termed the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ or new digital (machine) age (Brynjolffson and Mcaffee, 2014; Morgan, 2019; Schwab, 2016). This contemporary period is arguably characterized by several core phenomena: the financialization of capital, technological innovations which have consequences for the future of work, particularly in artificial intelligence and robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and the Internet of Things (Ford, 2015; Schwab, 2016).…”

“…This contemporary period is arguably characterized by several core phenomena: the financialization of capital, technological innovations which have consequences for the future of work, particularly in artificial intelligence and robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and the Internet of Things (Ford, 2015; Schwab, 2016). These developments have been hailed as promising great efficiency, convenience, and the facilitation of personal and social goals (Morgan, 2019: 375). The ‘future of work’ – and its promising dimensions – has been contemplated from think tanks, to legislatures, to local councils, to the conference halls of the gathering of the global elite at the World Economic Forum at Davos (Morgan, 2019).…”

“…These developments have been hailed as promising great efficiency, convenience, and the facilitation of personal and social goals (Morgan, 2019: 375). The ‘future of work’ – and its promising dimensions – has been contemplated from think tanks, to legislatures, to local councils, to the conference halls of the gathering of the global elite at the World Economic Forum at Davos (Morgan, 2019). Some have argued, from the left, that this future of work frees up individuals for less working time and more time to pursue social and cultural goals, particularly with the assistance of a universal basic income (Morgan, 2019).…”