Nicole Aschoff is on the editorial board at Jacobin. She is the author of The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power, and Resistance in the New Gilded Age and The New Prophets of Capital.
Locked down, smartphones are giving many of us some comfort and connection now. But the hardware and software that make our phones so indispensable are also tracking us twenty-four hours a day. This crisis will only open the door to more privacy intrusions in the name of public health.
The World Bank’s “pandemic bonds” demonstrate how global capital has an uncanny ability to profit from social ills. So far, investors have earned about $96 million in interest on the pandemic bonds, but developing countries have yet to receive desperately needed money.
Before we hand over billions and possibly trillions of dollars to corporations that have proven time and again that they value profits above all else, we should take a pause. There is time to put people first.
Coronavirus is pushing us from our workplaces, classrooms, and public spaces into our homes. High-speed internet is more essential than ever to maintain social ties. But millions are denied this fundamental right.
All of the fretting about social media addiction and smartphones destroying our attention span misses the point. Capitalism and the profit-seeking of big tech is the real problem.
Amazon just opened a 10,000-square-foot cashierless grocery store in Seattle. It’s part of a dangerous drive to undermine workers and control and commodify new spheres of life. The company and its plans for us should be resisted.
Bernie Sanders wants to rein in Big Tech, but tech workers love him anyway. Why? Because tech workers, like all workers, recognize the impact that policies such as Medicare for All and student loan debt relief could have on their well-being.
The feminism I fight for does not snuggle comfortably in the lap of capitalism. It is rooted in the understanding that capitalism is the problem, and that a feminism rooted in democratic, egalitarian, anticapitalist principles is the solution.
Microchips, mobile spyware, and perpetual monitoring are all part of capital’s fantasy of twenty-first-century scientific management — a future in which our movements, impulses, and rhythms are perfectly adapted to the needs of profit-making. We need to fight back and regain our autonomy at work.
Superyachts, like the billionaire class, shouldn’t exist. We need to institute a global wealth tax, shut down tax havens, and, yes, take their boats.
Shareholder activism is a limited tool for mitigating the worst abuses of corporations. But now, major business groups are fighting to restrict people’s ability to engage even in that.
The world of private equity, blank check companies, and complicated investment vehicles is, by design, alien to most people. But the maneuvering and backroom deals of these companies have stark, real-world implications.
BlackRock’s recent divestment promises are self-serving measures, not meaningful steps in the fight against global warming.
Donald Trump’s failure to enlist international support for his war on the Chinese company Huawei shows the weakening of US hegemony. Coercion won’t be enough for Washington to get its way.
Beheadings, infant rape, animal torture: content moderators are filtering these disturbing images and videos from your feeds every day. Moderating such brutal content takes a severe psychological toll on workers, but tech companies are doing little to improve their working conditions.
Today’s investors are easily swayed by snake oil salesmen like Elon Musk, but not interested in the things we need for long-term development.
The American au pair program is closer to indentured servitude than cultural exchange.
Coca-Cola killed trade unionists in Latin America. General Motors built vehicles known to catch fire. Tobacco companies suppressed cancer research. And Boeing knew that its planes were dangerous. Corporations don’t care if they kill people — as long as it’s profitable.
Democrats have signed off on Donald Trump’s latest trade agreements, including NAFTA 2.0. But the rotten deals are nothing to celebrate — they still operate under the absurd assumption that if US companies are profitable, benefits will trickle down to workers.
The Right has hijacked the vision of a life beyond neoliberal globalization. It’s time for a new progressive internationalism, one that puts solidarity and justice over corporate profits.