Technology, Alienation, and Class in Contemporary Capitalism: Revisiting Labour Process Theory in the Digital Age

• In Event: Marxist Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Marxist Sociology Section Roundtable 2

Abstract

Recent transformations in digital capitalism have reignited core debates on the relationship between technological change and class dynamics (Carreri et al., 2020; Panji Mulkillah et al., 2021; Fast, 2021; Cini, 2023). While mainstream narratives often frame technological innovation as neutral or unproblematic, critical sociological perspectives — echoing Marx’s “Fragment on Machines” and the insights of thinkers like Jean Fallot, Hans Jonas, and Joseph Schumpeter — expose its embeddedness in structures of exploitation and control (Fuchs, 2017, 2020; Long, 2024). This paper examines how contemporary economic sociology is engaging with the non-neutral role of technological deployment in capitalist production, particularly through the lens of labour process theory (LPT). Focusing on recent German contributions (Fuchs, 2016, 2017, 2020; Menz and Nies, 2024; Nicklich and Pfeiffer, 2023; Thaa et al., 2024) to LPT, this study highlights how a class-based and empirically grounded framework is being rearticulated to address the challenges of digitalisation, algorithmic management, and platform labour. Rather than abandoning key Marxian categories such as alienation and exploitation, this approach revitalises them through empirical studies of workplace agency and deliberation. It proposes a relational understanding of class that integrates subjective experience with structural analysis, offering a bridge between normative critique and institutional sociology. By examining how this strand of LPT synthesises alienation theory with empirical inquiry into the digital transformation of work, the paper contributes to broader comparative debates on capitalist diversity and institutional adaptation in the face of technological disruption.

Author

• Eugenio Capitani, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia