New Books in Critical Theory Robert Dorschel, "The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism" (MIT Press, 2025)
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Jan 20, 2026 Robert Dorschel, an Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology at the University of Cambridge, discusses his book examining the often-overlooked lives of tech workers. He reveals that these workers, far from embodying the entrepreneurial spirit, often critique digital capitalism's pitfalls. Dorschel highlights their reflexive industry awareness, class-based identities, and the challenges they face in unionization efforts. He also explores how their lifestyles and tastes signal authenticity, alongside a new, more moral brand of capitalism emerging in tech culture.
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Who Counts As A Tech Worker
- Tech workers are software programmers, data scientists, UX designers, AI engineers, product managers and similar knowledge professionals.
- They occupy a middle/upper-middle class task jurisdiction distinct from entrepreneurs and precarious gig workers.
Organizational Vs. Entrepreneurial Selves
- Two classic subjectivities frame knowledge work: the organizational self and the entrepreneurial self.
- Dorschel uses these to test whether tech workers become hyper-entrepreneurial or form a different subjectivity.
Tech Workers' Class-Based Critique
- Contrary to expectations, many tech workers adopt a critical stance toward big-tech narratives and economic inequality.
- They see themselves as 'workers' with class-based concerns and stress careful, contextual data work over techno-solutionism.
