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Automation, Work, and Ideology: the Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of "Labor"

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Automation, Work, and Ideology: the Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-2017 Automation, Work, and Ideology: The Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of "Labor" Anthony Jack Knowles II University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Inequality and Stratification Commons, Labor Economics Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons, and the Work, Economy and Organizations Commons Recommended Citation Knowles, Anthony Jack II, "Automation, Work, and Ideology: The Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of "Labor". " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2017. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4952 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Anthony Jack Knowles II entitled "Automation, Work, and Ideology: The Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of "Labor"." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Sociology. Harry F. Dahms, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Jon Shefner, Paul K. Gellert Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Automation, Work, and Ideology: The Next Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of “Labor” A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Anthony Jack Knowles II December 2017 Copyright © 2017 by Anthony Jack Knowles II All rights reserved. ii Dedication For my father, Anthony Knowles, our countless discussions of the nature of the world and society instilled in me an intellectual curiosity from a young age. For my mother, Mitzi Knowles, you have given me my strong sense of justice and purpose that animates everything I do and the person I want to become. And for my great grandmother, Jewell Bridges, your encouragement, enthusiasm, and confidence in me has been invaluable. Thank you for all your love and support. iii Acknowledgements I am very thankful to my committee members Jon Shefner, Paul Gellert, and Harry Dahms; their comments, guidance, and teaching have been crucial to my intellectual growth and the development of this thesis. I must thank Dr. Dahms in particular for his mentorship as well as the numerous thesis meetings, advice, and constructive criticism. I am also grateful for the comments and feedback I received when I presented earlier versions of this thesis research at the Southern Sociological Society in Greenville, South Carolina, March 2017, and the International Social Theory Consortium held in Innsbruck, Austria, May 2017. Finally, I must thank my friends and colleagues of my local intellectual community, dubbed the “Knoxville School of Critical Theory,” as well as Matthew Cavagrotti and Tyler Miller for their friendship and encouragement. iv Abstract Over the last several decades, scholars and commentators from a variety of different fields, expertise, and ideological positions have written on automation technologies and their potential to cause technological unemployment. As a sociological analysis and critical examination of how experts ideologically frame these issues, this thesis demonstrates that ideology plays a crucial role in the revived debate over automation and technological displacement. Weberian ideal types are developed to demonstrate how three major ideological positions—liberal, conservative, and radical—approach and frame the link between automation, technological displacement, and the potential for technological unemployment. The qualitative tools of ideal type construction and theme analysis facilitate synthesis and reconstruction as ideal types the most salient aspects of each ideological perspective on the link between automation and technological displacement. The liberal ideal type focuses on how liberal concerns that the present circumstances (“this time”) may be different, that predicted technological displacement will greatly exacerbate economic inequality, and that technological unemployment could undermine social stability. By contrast, conservative commentators contend that technological displacement will not cause structural technological unemployment, and that disruptions will most likely follow the same patterns of “creative destruction” (Schumpeter) observed throughout the history of capitalism. Finally, radical commentators typically regard the continuation of automation as an opportunity to think of new ways to organize society beyond wage labor, and endeavor to develop a political program designed to transcend the current problems plaguing capitalism. The final sections critically analyzes all three ideological positions and shows how, ultimately, current arguments and debates are structurally flawed. The tool of ideology critique is used to explain how the mainstream debate between conservatives, liberals, and radicals is devoid of systematic critical understanding of the dynamics of modern society. Relying on the works of the critical Marxian school of value-critique, a critique of current debates is formulated to explain how the historical dynamics of capital continuously transform labor in modern society in ways that will likely subvert the expectations of all three ideologies. The critical concept of a “logic of capital” must be central to any understanding of the processes of automation and technological displacement. v Table of Contents 1 Part 1 Setting and Context……………………………………….……………………...1 1.1 Diagnosis of the Present Moment: Crisis of Capitalism and Laboring Society?................1 1.2 Literature Review: Automation, Work, and Ideology…………………………………...16 1.3 Automation and Ideology: The Research Approach…………………………………….46 1.4 Methodology………………………………….………………………………………….59 2 Part 2 Ideal Types of Ideology…………..……….…………………………………….74 2.1 Ward’s Ideal Types……………………………………………………….……………...74 2.2 Liberal Theory and Ideology………………………………………………………….....91 2.3 Conservative Theory and Ideology……………………………………………………..118 2.4 Radical Theory and Ideology…………………………………………………………...144 3 Part 3 Value-Critique and Ideology Critique…………………...………...…………170 3.1 Marx, Automation, and Value-Critique Analysis………………………………………170 3.2 Ideology Critique: Critique of the Contemporary Debate……………………………...213 3.3 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...248 References……………………………………………………………………………...………255 Vita…………………………………………...………………………………………...………276 vi Part 1 Setting and Context 1.1 Diagnosis of the Present Moment: Crisis of Capitalism and Laboring Society? Modern capitalism as an economic and social system is defined by the historically unprecedented form that labor takes in modern society. Unlike pre-modern societies, people in modern society do not need to directly manipulate their environment to fulfill their necessities for food, water, clothing, shelter etc. Instead, individuals find a specific job to do amidst the grand social division of labor, and it is this work that allows individuals and families to acquire the means to buy the goods and services produced by others who also have their specialized place in the division of labor. The social coordination of the division of labor allows society to develop high levels of material wealth to fulfill the needs of society, and jobs give people the ability to a share of that material wealth through their wages. The integral role jobs play in the functioning of the economy and society is understood as “natural” to people living and working in modern society. Working time takes up a significant part of the day. The work we do shapes our modes of thought, our experiences, how we experience life, and how we interpret our experiences. Our job is often the most salient part of our social identity and effects how we are treated throughout the different social contexts we encounter daily. Jobs are necessary for the smooth functioning of modern capitalist society, not just as a means to acquire money, but as an overarching social mediation that is foundational to modern social life (Postone, 1993, pg.123- 185). However, concretely what jobs are, their number, nature, and function are constantly shifting over time due to the dynamic interlinking social, economic, and political processes in modern society. Innumerable factors affect this: industries rise and fall, business cycles of 1 boom and bust, markets grow, and businesses move, restructure, cut costs or expand etc. But perhaps the most salient factor that changes the nature of jobs, especially in the long term, is changes in technology. Technology changes jobs because each new tool allows workers to do their job tasks differently. The task of tending a field takes on a qualitatively different nature depending on if the farmer is using a hoe, a horse driven cart, a tractor, or a gigantic combine machine. Secondly, technology changes jobs because it allows workers to be more productive, to produce more in the same amount of time. To take the same example,
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