The Mechanic and the Luddite

A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-0-520-39807-8
Verlag: University of California

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 213 mm, Gewicht: 396 g

This short book demystifies how the two systems of technology and capitalism work together and equips readers with practical tools to dismantle them and build a better world, bit by bit.

Our society is constantly made to serve the needs of two systems: technology and capitalism. Neither exists outside humans, but both are treated as above and beyond us. The Mechanic and the Luddite offers the critical tools needed to deconstruct these systems—how they work, whom they work for, and what work they do in our lives. With signature style and energy, Jathan Sadowski presents a provocative one-stop shop for understanding the political economy of technology and capitalism.

Each chapter breaks down key features of technological capitalism, offering sharp, synthetic, and authoritative analysis of topics like innovation, labor, data, and risk. It's not enough to know how the machinery of capitalism is put together and how its parts operate; we must also know whom the machines serve and when they should be taken apart, to be rebuilt for new purposes or destroyed for good. The Mechanic and the Luddite provides the political guidance needed to make these crucial decisions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sadowski, Jathan

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wissenssoziologie, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Techniksoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftssysteme, Wirtschaftsstrukturen
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Two Systems

2. Two Models

3. Innovation

4. Data

5. Labor

6. Landlords

7. Risk

8. Futures

Notes

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jathan Sadowski is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. He is author of the book Too Smart and host of the podcast This Machine Kills, both on the political economy of technology.