Job polarization trends stem from political and institutional choices, not technological inevitability

Evidence

Most companies opted for the smart machine over smart people, producing a well-documented pattern that favors substituting machines and their algorithms for human contributors in a wide range of jobs. By now, these include many occupations far from the factory floor. This results in what economists call “job polarization,” which features some high-skill jobs and other low-skill jobs, with automation displacing most of the jobs that were once “in the middle.” And although some business leaders, economists, and technologists describe these developments as necessary and inevitable consequences of computer-based technologies, research shows that the division of learning in the economic domain reflects the strength of neoliberal ideology, politics, culture, and institutional patterns. For example, in continental and northern Europe, where key elements of the double movement have survived in some form, job polarization is moderated by substantial investments in workforce education that produce a more inclusive division of learning as well as high-quality innovative products and services. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 572

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the earlier double movement concept (Polanyi) and debates about technological determinism versus political choice shaping labor markets. — connects to: Skill-biased technological change cannot explain cross-national variation in income inequality — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 33; Seeing tech as new accumulation regime versus continuation changes political strategy — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 18; AI’s employment consequences are unpredictable because they depend on capitalist competition — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 248 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Skill-biased technological change cannot explain cross-national variation in income inequality #corroborates (0.92) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 33
• AI’s employment consequences are unpredictable because they depend on capitalist competition #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 248
• Scientific-technological ordering is inherently political #expands (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 618
• Seeing tech as new accumulation regime versus continuation changes political strategy #responds-to (0.75) — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 18