The Political Economy of Labor and Development: The Future of Work

This seminar explores the relationship between work and technological change. New technologies have enabled machines to perform predictable (and in some cases unpredictable) tasks with increasing skill. The widely discussed improvements of “machine intelligence” have the potential to reshape labor markets across the world. Reactions among scholars, policymakers, and the public have varied from optimism about the social and economic benefits of these innovations to fears about the joblessness and inequality that might result. How can we understand the impact of new technological developments on the labor market, the experience of working, and the identity of workers?