Bloody Taylorism and Cognitive Capitalism

Technopolitics Special Event
John Barker, “Bloody Taylorism and Cognitive Capitalism”
Lecture and Discussion

John Barker presents results of his and Ines Doujak’s recent research Loomshuttles Warpaths, linking global production chains, labour regimes and technology with particular reference to the textile and clothing industry. The lecture will be followed by an open discussion. The event is part of a series of meetings of the Technopolitics Study Group in Vienna.

Key points of the lecture are

• The co-existence of different modes of production in the same world with particular reference to the textile and clothing industry
• the particular forms of labour discipline in each mode with reference to pre-industrial modes of intensity of labour
• what does labour saving machinery mean
• the assumptions of “sourcing” the ideology of free trade and the ICT-led revolution in logistics.
• the outsourcing of risk
• the non-repeatability of textiles as a take-off for national industrial development
• Are we now seeing the difference between the Marxist categories reserve army of labour and surplus population, that is the expendability of certain forms of people and their labour.

John Barker is a novelist and has written extensively on political economy for Mute, Variant, and Adbusters magazines as well as the journal Science as Culture.

Technopolitics is the name of a project that combines research with self-education through lectures, discussions and other events; we also strive to create repositories of shared online resources and join theory with a praxis oriented approach.

Technopolitics emerged out of discussions between Brian Holmes and Armin Medosch, and has become a research theme explored by a growing number of people in Chicago, Vienna and other places. An initial collection of ideas and notes can be found here: http://www.thenextlayer.org/

After Technopolitics@Boem “Smelling the Rat” in 2011, this is the second time BOEM is hosting a technopolitics meeting. http://www.thenextlayer.org/node/1359

The BOEM* is, according to its self-description, a typical ex-Yugoslavian place. A little bit messy or you could also say: with patina. Used. For more than a decade it´s been well known as “Yugocafé”, which was operated in combination with construction companies. A typical Viennese corner-café.

BOEM* As A Basis Of Transcultural Supply, As Research Initiative.