Under Capitalism, “Labor-Saving” Technology Only Adds to Our Workload
Upon its launch ten years ago, Germany's Industry 4.0 program promised a fourth industrial revolution changing the way we work. Yet for all the talk of novelty, it followed age-old capitalist imperatives: using labor-saving technology not to lessen our workload but subject us to even tighter workplace discipline.
In many parts of the world, working conditions are deteriorating and digitalization is being blamed for this. (Unsplash)
The term Industry 4.0 was first introduced ten years ago in Germany at the Hanover Messe, one of the world’s largest trade fairs. Heralding a “fourth industrial revolution,” this PR label quickly become a well-known brand name for the German state’s political and economic program. The economic basis of this program is often referred to as digitalization. On the technical level, this means enabling new production processes through internet-based machine-to-machine communication, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.
Both digitalization and Industry 4.0 should also be of interest for the US left. The reason is simple: In the United States, too, working conditions are deteriorating and digitalization is widely blamed for all of this. And just like in Germany, this new increase in productive power is used to drive imperialism forward. So, for Industry 4.0’s tenth birthday, here’s ten theses on why it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
1. Digitalization Doesn’t Do a Damn Thing.
In the public debate we find repeated claims like “digitization will fundamentally change the way we work.” Not only should workers be reachable any time a digital meeting is due; at the same time, up to 50 percent of all the jobs in the United States are threatened by digitization. These assumptions are common, but nonetheless mistaken.
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