ILRLR 4066

Technological Change at Work

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

Computers and digital technologies including robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), internet-enabled platforms, and other "high-tech" drivers of automation have revolutionized the nature and organization of work in the U.S., with material implications for workers and their families, among others. This upper-level seminar begins with a rhetorical inquiry into whether and when the technological change engendered by digitization and the so-called "Information Technology (IT) Revolution" benefits workers. We then consider the broader impact of recent technological advances on manufacturing and fabrication, low- and semi-skilled service work, i.e., restaurant servers and bus drivers, and even on expert and professional work like that to which most of you presumably aspire. Among the central themes is the notion that technology does not unilaterally act upon workers, their employers, or society-at-large. Rather, workers, managers, customers, institutions, and policymakers shape which advances take hold and which do not, the ways that these technologies are deployed in the workplace, and the ways that society can actively mitigate the costs to technological advancement while harnessing its benefits.

When Offered Fall or Spring.

• You will be able to assess the extent to which the present wave of emerging workplace technologies differs from previous ones.
• You will be able to describe theorized patterns of how new technologies shape the workplace for specific social groups, and apply these theories to emerging workplace technologies.
• You will be able to identify potential points of conflict and change in workplace hierarchy given information about how a new technology is being used in a contemporary workplace.
• You will be able to prescribe policy responses aimed at mitigating the potentially deleterious impact of workplace technological change, and articulate the potential unintended consequences of these policies.

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