• Übercapitalism and What Can Be Done About It

    Author(s):
    Gary Hall (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Group(s):
    Advocating for the Humanities, Cultural Studies, Digital Humanists, Political Philosophy & Theory
    Subject(s):
    Critical theory, Education, Higher--Curricula, Capitalism, Labor, Neoliberalism
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    gig economy, Labor Unions, disruption, uber, Critical university studies, Data sharing, Capitalist culture, Precarity, Labour
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6125Q885
    Abstract:
    We live in an increasingly übercapitalist society. It’s übercapitalist in that a specific version of neoliberalism, characterised by low pay, zero-hours and fixed-term contracts, is growing ever more aggressive; and that the disruptive technology firm Uber offers one of the most high-profile examples of this intensified form of deregulated capitalism in which work is becoming low in quality but high in risk and stress. Yet just as business is innovating so we need to invent new strains of unionisation. This short chapter from the UCU Branch Solidarity Network handbook, The University Is Ours: How To Build An Activist Union Branch, explores how we can develop new forms of solidarity and collective bargaining in the context of übercapitalism.
    Notes:
    'Übercapitalism and What Can Be Done About It' was written for The University Is Ours: How To Build An Activist Union Branch, a handbook for activists put together by Des Freedman and Susan Kelly for the UCU Branch Solidarity Network, and published in October 2018. The whole handbook can be downloaded for free here: https://ucubranchsolidaritynetwork.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/solidarity-guide20.pdf
    Metadata:
    Published as:
    Book chapter    
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    All-Rights-Granted
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