The Solutionist Ethic and the Spirit of Digital Capitalism

Why do tech elites believe they are the world’s greatest do-gooders and why does it matter what they say and (claim to) think? In this paper, we use the concept of the spirit of capitalism to shed light on the ways in which normative beliefs inform and justify the business models of tech companies. We first reconstruct, systematize and operationalize the concept of the capitalist spirit. We then argue that solutionist ideas have become central to the (self-)image of today’s tech companies. Solutionism refers to the idea that the use of technologies – by inventive and cunning entrepreneurs – is the royal road to fixing social problems. We use a classification algorithm trained on handcoded documents to empirically trace the relative importance of solutionist vis-`a-vis other normative beliefs in three novel text corpora. We find that solutionist ideas are indeed central to the worldview of tech elites, and that they are also gaining ground in the broader tech milieu, although not yet in the normative discourse of capitalism at large. Finally, we theorize and illustrate the motivating, legitimizing, and orienting role of the capitalist spirit. In doing so, we contribute – conceptually, theoretically, and empirically – to the budding debates on the moral embeddedness of economic action and on the nature and trajectory of digital capitalism

Market and Labour Control in Digital Capitalism

Theorists of post capitalism have recently argued for a more or less inevitable end to capitalism. They assume that private accumulation is systematically blocked by the inability of capitalist corporations to create revenues by setting prices as they lose control over the reproduction of their commodities and that in this process, capitalist labour will eventually disappear. Drawing on a case study of Amazon and thoughts on the policies of other leading digital corporations, we challenge these assumptions. Key corporate players of digitization are trying to become powerful monopolies and have partly succeeded in doing so, using the network effects and scaling opportunities of digital goods and building socio-technical ecosystems. These strategies have led to the development of in part isomorphic structures, hence creating a situation of oligopolistic market competition. We draw on basic assumptions of monopoly capital theory to argue that in this situation labour process rationalization becomes key to the corporation’s competitive strategies. We see the expansion of digital control and the organizational structures applied by key corporate players of the digital economy as evidence for the expansion of capitalist labour, not its reduction

Lieder vom Ende des Kapitalismus: Sammelrezension zu David Harvey, Immanuel Wallerstein u.a.

Immanuel Wallerstein, Randall Collins, Michael Mann, Georgi Derluguian, Craig Calhoun: Stirbt der Kapitalismus? Fünf Szenarien für das 21. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt am Main u.a. 2014.+++David Harvey: Siebzehn Widersprüche und das Ende des Kapitalismus. Berlin 2015

Organising - a strategic option for trade union renewal?

"Against the background of a deep crisis in trade union representation, the authors seek to determine some possible starting points for a renewal of trade unions. The employees’ organisations are seen as actors who have a strategic choice as to which power resources to tap. Though the specific national systems of industrial relations influence the unions’ strategic options, there are nevertheless various opportunities for trans-national learning processes. This contribution analyses the potential for trade union renewal, drawing on several examples of organising approaches in the USA and Germany." (author's abstract

The Strategic Use of Temporary Agency Work - Functional Change of a Non-standard Form of Employment

"Using data from the German case, the paper examines a new form of client firms’ utilization of temporary agency work that is distinctly different from traditional forms responding to production problems. Client firms, particularly from manufacturing, increasingly use temporary agency workers as a quasi-permanent component of their workforce. Management’s primary aim is to establish a 'security net' for the short-termprofits by bypassing German statutory dismissal protection. However, since client firms’ regular employees and the temporary agency workers tend to perform the same tasks, a secondary effect of the strategic use of temporary agency work can be observed: the disciplinary effects associated with precarious work are tangibly amplified and expanded." (author's abstract

Unions in the postal services of the future. A global survey on labor uni on representatives' assessment of digitalization in the post and logistics sector

This study is an explorative analysis of labor union representatives' assessment of digital transformation in the postal and logistics sector and the consequences for union activities in different regions of the world. It consists of two parts: Part I is a review of existing research on the topic of digitalization and labor relations in the postal and logistics sector. Part II represents the core of the study, consisting of a qualitative survey of union representatives from that sector regarding their stance towards digitalization and respective union strategies. The sample consists of 29 detailed written statements of union representatives from all continents, answering to a set of open questions. The study shows that in almost all of the regions, digital technologies are the basic technological infrastructure that enables postal work. There is a set of specific technology bundles which are consistently used in all of these regions. The surveyed union representatives consistently report a net job loss as a consequence of digitalization, although it also has created some new jobs. They also indicate an increase in precarious forms of employment, such as subcontracting, temporary work or bogus self-employment. In terms of working conditions, respondents refer to work facilitation through automation and digital assistance. However, they also underline that especially algorithmic work control leads to increased surveillance and work intensification. This intensification of work is perceived in turn as a factor in increased stress and thus as a risk for workers' health. Yet, respondents also see the potential for digital systems to prevent accidents. Overall, the surveyed union representatives see digitalization as inevitable. Yet, they consistently argue that new regulations are needed because older standards often times do not address the specific problems of digitalized work

Chancen und Probleme pfadabhängiger Revitalisierung. Gewerkschaftliches Organizing im Krankenhauswesen

Die deutschen Gewerkschaften erproben verschiedene Strategien gewerkschaftlicher Erneuerung. Vor allem der von den US-Gewerkschaften zum Teil erfolgreich praktizierte Organizing-Ansatz wurde hier zu Lande diskutiert und auch in einigen Fällen bereits adaptiert. Gleichzeitig gibt es aber auch eine Reihe von Bedenken, ob die Implementierung von Organizing aus einem voluntaristischen System in das deutsche Modell industrieller Beziehungen gelingen kann. Die komplexe Strukturierung dieses Feldes – vor allem die Dualität der Interessenrepräsentation, sozialpartnerschaftliche Verhandlungsmuster, aber auch tradierte Beziehungen zwischen legitimierten Akteuren wie Betriebs- und Personalräten und Vertrauensleuten – stellen eine Herausforderung für Organizing-Projekte dar. Dieser Beitrag analysiert mit Hilfe Marshall Ganz‘ Konzepts des strategischen Handlungsvermögens die Chancen und Probleme anhand des Verlaufs zweier Intensivfallstudien im Krankenhaussektor und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass Organizing eine pfadabhängige Revitalisierung bewirken kann, sofern es nicht übertragen, sondern strategisch an das deutsche Modell adaptiert wird

Der Wandel von Economic Citizenship im Zuge der europäischen Integration

Die Frage nach dem sozialen Gehalt der europäischen Integration ist nach wie vor ungeklärt. Während auf europäischer Ebene die zivilen und politischen Dimensionen von "Citizenship" gestärkt wurden, sind gerade hinsichtlich der ökonomischen und sozialen Rechte die Entwicklungen uneindeutig, widersprüchlich - und noch wenig erforscht. Der vorliegende Text überträgt Citizenship als zentrale Kategorie der Modernisierungstheorie auf die Erforschung der europäischen Integration. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei auf der Analyse des Wandels von "Economic Citizenship" als spezielle Kategorie staatsbürgerlicher Rechte mit Blick auf die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Diese Dynamik diskutieren wir am Beispiel von drei Politikfeldern, die unterschiedliche Ebenen von "Economic Citizenship" abbilden. Mit diesem Aufsatz verfolgen wir zwei Ziele: Erstens wollen wir Marshalls modernisierungstheoretische These der fortschreitenden sozialen Integration unter den Bedingungen der europäischen Integration überprüfen und zweitens das Konzept der "Economic/Industrial Citizenship", das zuvor mit wenigen Ausnahmen keine große Rolle in der Weiterentwicklung von Marshalls Theorie gespielt hat, systematisch und empirisch in den Vordergrund stellen. Schlüsselwörter: Europäische Integration; Industrial Citizenship; Gewerkschaften; T.H. Marshall; Staatsbürgerschaft. Abstract: The social question in the process of European integration remains unresolved. While at the European level the civil and political dimensions of citizenship have been strengthened, developments in economic and social rights are ambiguous, contradictory - and still unsufficiently researched. This text applies citizenship as a central category of modernization theory to the study of European integration. A particular focus is set on the analysis of the transformation from 'economic citizenship' as a category of civil rights with a view to the case of Germany. We discuss these dynamics drawing on the example of three policy fields which represent different levels of economic citizenship. This paper pursues two goals: First, we want to examine Marshall's modernization-theoretical thesis of progressive social integration under the conditions of European integration. Second, we want to systematically and empirically focus on the concept of Economic/ Industrial Citizenship, which, with a few exceptions, had previously played no major role in the further development of Marshall's theory