Blueskying the Future
Or, whither ambition?
Like many others, I’ve had Bluesky on the mind recently. Having joined a few weeks before the US election (and subsequent avalanche of people jumping ship from X), it’s been weird to see the trends in discourse. First the water was lovely and it was like old Twitter! So open and free and people engaging civilly. Then came look what Trump’s done now followed quickly by here’s a list of people you can block right away. Now it seems more or less like X already was, perhaps with a bit more posting owing either to the novelty of the situation or, more likely, the desire to build up those followers.
For a second there, I confess, I also thought something new might be created. But it won’t, and I can’t help thinking that social media really has turned people’s imaginations to mush when it comes to online collaboration. I essentially agree with Jay Springett, so I won’t recapitulate his argument, but you should read his short post ‘Have Some Ambition’. Aside from highlighting the transparent casinofied logic of the platform (transparent to all but those still enchanted by it, it seems), maybe the big takeaway is that little text boxes lead to small thoughts.
I was in Oslo last week for a symposium on algorithmic governance and work. It was a great event, and I’ll say more about it in a bit, but it was also kind of infuriating to hear trade union officials and policymakers talk so narrowly, so marginally, about the role of workers in the changing politics of work and the reasonable aspirations of unions. Tech companies, employers, governments — they don’t think like this. They don’t hedge and tinker and worry how they’ll look from the other side of the table. They have some ambition. The problem is it’s at our expense.
Relatedly, I’ve been thinking about the trend on the left to reach for ‘regulation’ as the solution to AI, algorithms, etc. I’ve been guilty of this from time to time too. It makes a sort of sense. But it’s a logic really punctured by Tereza Østbø Kuldova — organiser of the Oslo event I attended — in her book Compliance-Industrial Complex: The Operating System of a Pre-Crime Society, which I highly recommend seeking out. It argues that said complex ultimately becomes another means of hoarding power for those who would be ‘regulated’. In that scenario, what then do we think is the solution? We need to be more ambitious.
Cyberboss
Norway at this time of year might be cold but it also has excellent cinnamon snacks, so I wasn’t complaining. I joined academics, policymakers and trade unionists to talk about Cyberboss amidst a packed day talking work, algorithms and AI. It was pretty mindblowing to learn more about the ‘Norwegian model’ of trade unionism, which revolves around the idea of co-determination. I’m sure British trade unions would love something similar, but one of my takeaways is that it’s a huge double-edged sword that, in my opinion, leads to far too complacent an attitude from the unions, especially towards tech. When the idea of ‘trust’ becomes so central to your conception of how you relate to the state, to employers, even to platforms, I fear you’re in for a blindsiding once it turns out algorithmic management technologies are not there to make everyone’s lives better.
I have a lot of affection for the Centre for Decent Work at Sheffield, despite it being the first place I got an interview and subsequent rejection following my PhD back in 2018. Or maybe that’s the reason. Shut up, Freud. Anyway, I really strongly rate the people there and their work into algorithmic management, logistics, the labour process and workers’ strength. So it was a joy to go there to talk about Cyberboss with colleagues old and new. We had a great chat which left me thinking that maybe I need to do something challenging the much-enshrined ‘right to manage’. Watch this space…
Lastly, I spotted recently that Cyberboss was featured in the newsletter ‘Wage Against the Machine!’ from the Competence Centre on the Future of Work. It’s a really nice bit of engagement, mostly centring on the question of algorithmic transparency (of which I’m something of a critic), so thanks to author Justin Nogarede for that. Incidentally, CCFW is part of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a social-democratic rival foundation of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, who many on the left in Britain will know. Ebert, father of the Weimar Republic for whom the foundation is named, had Luxemburg and a number of other leftists murdered by the fascist Freikorps. So there was a surprise.
Events
ONLINE — 4 December at CDI-TV. Find it on YouTube or via the Stream Art Network.
NORWICH — 29 January at Caracol Books, it’s official!
LEEDS — On 30 January I’ll be joining a Cyberboss reading group(!!) at Leeds University Business School. Bracing myself for that one.
BRUSSELS — I’ll be at the ETUI conference ‘Cyborg Workers 2.0’ with a paper I’ve actually titled Stop Trying to Make ‘Sharing the Benefit’ Happen. So that should go down well. 13-14 February.
SHEFFIELD — Back in the Steel City on 25 February to talk Cyberboss with the Digital Societies Network at Sheffield Uni.
LEEDS — 26 March, now rescheduled appearance at Leeds TUC.
LONDON — 31 May, a date for your diaries. I’ll be joining the Media Democracy Festival to talk Big Tech and resistance.
Heart Reacts
Episodes 10 and 11 of Heart Reacts have flown by. In them, we talk Palestine, procreating, the utility of ‘theory’ when life feels impossible already, and… *drum roll* the next chapter of the Poly Chronicles. Because of course. Catch up on Patreon.
We’ll soon be hitting record for ep 12, and if you’ve got a question, dilemma, rumination or situation to share with us, submit a question (anon!) here.
Bella
It’s 14 degrees in the flat and Bella is not letting go of this cushion until March.
And the rest
My review of Algorithms of Resistance got approved insanely quickly, so it’s here up on Work, Employment and Society. But if you don’t have an institutional login, you can skip straight to downloading the book for free at MIT Press. It’s really good!
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between livestreaming and real-time tracking. I’m not sure where it’s going, but in the meantime I was inspired by this launch text/invitation from Geert Lovink for the new StreamArtNetwork.
Craig Gent will return...