Making Media Work: A Cultural History of New Media and Labor Management in the US, 1910-2020 explores how new media have figured in demanding more work out of American workers for less in return. Promising innovation and objectivity, new media have figured as forces and justifications for extracting more time and energy from workers. From early film technology’s use in “scientific management” of the early twentieth century to today’s smartphone applications for managing “gig” and “just-in-time” workers, new media have justified and mediated long, intense work hours to boost productivity. A cultural history, Making Media Work attends to systems of oppression, including white supremacy and patriarchy, that have informed new media’s use in labor management and explores how labor movements have shaped working conditions and uses of new media.


Occurrences
-
Tuesday, March 3, 2020, noon