Overview

An unsparing analysis of class power and computerisation, Cyber-Proletariat shows us the dark-side of the information revolution. From Coltan mines in the Congo; electronics factories in China and devastated neighbourhoods in Detroit, this book reveals how technology facilitates growing polarisation between wealthy elites and precarious workers. Nick Dyer-Witheford reveals the class domination behind everything from expanding online surveillance to intensifying robotisation. At the same time, he looks at possibilities for information technology within radical movements; contemporary struggles are cast in the blue glow of the computer screen. This book brings heterodox Marxist analysis to bear on modern technological developments. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how Silicon Valley shapes the way we live today.

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9780745334035

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Reviews

Cyber-Proletariat tracks the eddies and flows of the perfect storm that is contemporary capitalism. This panoramic work reveals the relentless force of material destruction and brutal violence concealed by the sleek surfaces of digital culture. -- Benjamin Noys, Professor of Critical Theory, University of Chichester, and author of Malign Velocities Cyber-Proletariat teases out the tensions between new communisation and autonomist Marxist theories to portray the struggles of workers along the entire global capitalist commodity chain. An epic story, it is two parts the unending battle against capitalist cyber-vampires, and one part the Wizard of Oz- like alliance of all who care for one another and for the world. -- Dorothy Kidd, Professor and Chair, Department of Media Studies, University of San Francisco Nick Dyer-Witheford follows up his now-classic Cyber-Marx with a synoptic view of the relationship between the poles of the contemporary global proletariat from the Turkish miners killed in a shaft collapse to the highly paid hackers in Silicon Valley. Cyber-proletariat is rich in empirical detail and has a wide theoretical horizon. You will find in these pages workers in Foxconn contemplating suicide cheek-by-jowl with the Gezi Park demonstrators protesting the enclosure of a public park to build a shopping mall. It is written with Dyer-Witherford's well-known eloquence and passion. Cyber-proletarians should thank him for writing it and get it. -- George Caffentzis, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine This accessible, well-written book makes for fascinating reading. -- Choice

Nick Dyer-Witheford's Cyber-Proletariat tracks the eddies and flows of the perfect storm that is contemporary capitalism. This panoramic work reveals the relentless force of material destruction and brutal violence concealed by the sleek surfaces of digital culture. Not without hope, Dyer-Witheford offers a clear-eyed reflection on the conditions facing the global proletariat in its struggle to win a better world. -- Benjamin Noys, Professor of Critical Theory, University of Chichester, and author of Malign Velocities

'This accessible, well-written book makes for fascinating reading.' -- Choice `A follow up to the classic Cyber-Marx with a synoptic view of the relationship between the poles of the contemporary global proletariat ... written with Dyer-Witherford's well-known eloquence and passion' -- George Caffentzis, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine 'Teases out the tensions between new communisation and autonomist Marxist theories to portray the struggles of workers along the entire global capitalist commodity chain.' -- Dorothy Kidd, Professor and Chair, Department of Media Studies, University of San Francisco 'Tracks the eddies and flows of the perfect storm that is contemporary capitalism. This panoramic work reveals the relentless force of material destruction and brutal violence concealed by the sleek surfaces of digital culture.' -- Benjamin Noys, Professor of Critical Theory, University of Chichester, and author of Malign Velocities

Author Information

Nick Dyer-Witheford is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at University of Western Ontario. He is author of Cyber-Marx (University of Illinois, 1999), and co-author of Digital Play (McGill-Queen's, 2003), Games of Empire (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) Cyber-Proletariat (Pluto, 2015), and the co-author of Inhuman Power (Pluto, 2019).

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