Prof at Georgetown Law. Labor law, political economy, technology, other things. I no longer have a twitter account.
Author, Data & Democracy at Work, The MIT Press. Open Access version at https://tinyurl.com/btv74buj
Brishen Rogers
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Like, I'm all for more public debate around work, class, inequality, and poverty. Also, the American middle classes often experience a degree of economic precarity and exploitation.
But the modal workplace rights and experiences of professionals and line workers are still extremely different. 3/3
Companies may keep staff levels very low for a similar reason. They’ll *lose* revenue due to fewer sales and loss of customers. But prevent workers from getting to know each other and deciding to protest or organize
a pet theory: companies often implement new labor displacing tech like self-checkout *not* to maximize profits but rather to change workplace politics.
Yes, both groups are nearly impossible to define with precision. But there are some basic overlapping metrics: Do you earn wages or a salary? Does your job require advanced education? Do you have job security? Do you supervise other people? Is your income above the median? etc. 2/3
The longer you look at this, the worse it gets
In other words, the new tech may be more expensive *permanently* compared to labor costs saved. But the benefit of avoiding labor strife makes it desirable, in a sense
Platner's definition of the working class as anyone who earns income from work rather than investments is increasingly common on the left. It's appealing but it is clearly wrong.
Culturally, economically, and legally there are major differences between wage-earners and the middle classes. 1/3
