Automation’s shrinking of manual labor weakens the political opposition’s power

Evidence

Here, too, the declining proportion of human labor power in the productive process means a decline in political power of the opposition. In view of the increasing weight of the white-collar element in this process, political radicalization would have to be accompanied by the emergence of an independent political consciousness and action among the white-collar groups—a rather unlikely development in advanced industrial society. The stepped-up drive to organize the growing white-collar element in the industrial unions, if successful at all, may result in a growth of trade union consciousness of these groups, but hardly in their political radicalization. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 203

Categorization

• SEED: Could anchor an essay on why white-collar unionization delivers trade-union consciousness but not political radicalization — directly relevant to contemporary organizing drives and the attention economy’s new middle class.
• XREF: connects to: Unemployment functioned as a deliberate political weapon to weaken labor — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 994; Managerialist bureaucracy works as intended by weakening labour and worker autonomy — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1493; Mass automation forces states to tighten social controls on the unemployed — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 241

Broader Connections

• Unemployment functioned as a deliberate political weapon to weaken labor #corroborates (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 994
• Managerialist bureaucracy works as intended by weakening labour and worker autonomy #qualifies (0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1493
• Mass automation forces states to tighten social controls on the unemployed #qualifies (0.72) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 241