First Meeting: The Past and Future of Work

Co-coordinators: Jacob Remes, Maia Silber, and Caitlin Zaloom

“The Past and Future of Work” group will situate ongoing conversations about the impact of technological change on the 21st-century workforce within histories and institutions of labor. Together, participants will examine the rise of artificial intelligence, the emergence of “gig” platforms, and the transition to remote work in the context of the larger social structures and organizations that shape their design and uses. We’ll pay special attention to social relations that constitute work beyond the point of production, focusing on the home, the community, the state, and the natural environment, among other sites.

Our first sessions will be devoted to discussing new works in the social sciences alongside classics in these fields that shed light on workers’ past efforts to grapple with changes in technology. Ultimately, we hope to define a new agenda for “the future of work” that places technology within a broader social analysis and advances the goal of worker empowerment.”

Please e-mail msilber@princeton.edu to be added to the group listserv.