Status Updates From Against Tech Oligarchy: Wor...

Ch.6/7 - why did no one tell me UE was organizing Twitter pre- and during Musk? What Musk did to Twitter was incredible, and at multiple points in the book, you can see how tactics are tried at one major company, and the others follow suit. Following musk, the other tech giants felt they could get away with massive layoffs. They are a class that is organized, we need to be as well. Shout out to UE for trying

Ch4+5. The kickstarter story was gripping, loved that. The recognition playbook section seems to be setting up the rest of the story. Formal recognition brought less political struggles, but more legal protections. Yet, at the end, it resulted in bad contracts and laid off organizers. The potential for class consciousness seems to be lost when the international unions like CWA step in. I hope they bring it back

Ch 3. - The way Google tried to celebrate the walkouts surrounding sexism is insane. What a great PR strategy for them. All the while, they were retaliating against employees. Each example brought up demonstrates how the boss is the best organizer: the more they retaliate, the more people get involved. The public shaming strat is interesting bcuz that’s what we do in higher ed as well with no right to strike

Ch 2’s examples of workplace organizing around political issues makes the claim that class consciousness was being developed through these struggles. To some degree, yes, but organizing efforts alone won’t produce a class analysis spontaneously, it was the political interventions that helped people begin to expand beyond just their particular employer. Book is great so far, and I can’t wait to continue

1st chapter goes through the different eras of tech. Starting from countercultural roots, this ethos carries the industry forward through two massive events: the dot com bubble and 08 crises. Along the way, consolidation of the market by a few players in order to win the platform economy, causes the mythos of revolutionary’s to come face to face with the reality of their status as the new establishment. So good!

Received arc from author.