Reddit reviews Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation

Race/Black Liberation

• Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (1983)
  
• Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression (1990)
  
• Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party (2013)
  
• Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times (2011)
  
• Liberated Territory: Untold Local Perspectives on the Black Panther Party (2009)
  
• Detroit: I Do Mind Dying--A Study in Urban Revolution (1975)
  
  Technology and Politics
  
  
• Technology and Social Theory (2011)
  
• Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism (1999)
  
• Cyber-Proletariat: Global Labour in the Digital Vortex (2015)
  
• Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming (2016)
  
• Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation (1986)
  
• Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile (2011)
  
• Rise of the Red Engineers: The Cultural Revolution and the Origins of China's New Class (2009)
  
  Greater Middle East
  
  
• Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East (2013)
  
• Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States (2011)
  
• Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (2004)
  
• America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier (2006)
  
• Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil (2011)
  

This + this + this = Socialism and worker autonomy cannot come quickly enough

>Are the 2 not linked? Genuine question. I would have assumed there was a fair amount of correlation.

Related but distinct. The executive summary of this report helps to clarify.

>You got any links on this? I could do with some in my arsenal.

There are quite a lot of studies out there, it's a fairly consistent finding. There are some references here and some more here, and one of the more famous analyses is contained in books by David Noble such as Forces Of Production.

There is an excellent book titled Forces of Production by David Noble which begins with the story of the Luddites and draws comparisons between their plight and what skilled machinists underwent in the government subsidized development of CNC technology.

http://www.amazon.com/Forces-Production-History-Industrial-Automation/dp/0195040465

You sound like you're not in the workforce yet, and still in college, yeah? If so, take the time to join with radical student organizations and local community groups, and try to find literature on the intersection between engineering and socialism. I've been doing the latter quite a lot, and there is quite a lot to think about in terms of reflecting on the role of the engineer in capitalism, the nature of techno-scientific work, etc.

Here are some books that I highly recommend, that are transforming the way I see myself as an engineer:

• Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism (1999)
  
  
• Cyber-Proletariat: Global Labour in the Digital Vortex (2015)
  
  
• Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile (2011)
  
  
• Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation (1986)
  
  Also, check out Jacobin Magazine's issue on technology and socialism, "Ours to Master", good packet of essays that you would find interesting
  

I know this is an old post, but it really saddens me how much people ignore the truth. There was a study done by David Noble that concluded that the vast majority of our advances in technology could not be done in the private sector. Did private industry put a man on the moon? They certainly want to take credit for it now. It would not be possible without the massive collective effort of the WHOLE WORLD.

You don't have to accept anything, faith is belief without evidence. I'll take evidence any day.

Also, if you had the choice between a government you could (theoretically) vote out if it was abusing you or one which could do whatever they wanted with impunity with no recourse for the citizen, which would you choose?

Maybe you never read about the labor struggles of the past; that only the government could tell private industry to not kill people or provide them basic wages and working conditions.
What do they say? Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it?

I actually think ancaps play this game with capitalism. The good things are the result of the market and capitalism, and the bad things are the result of statism and corporatism. But a closer look, like for instance that done by historians like David F. Noble and economists like Mariana Mazzucato shows that, in fact, the history of innovation -- especially technological innovation -- is basically the story of the state. Which lines up nicely with the history, which shows the state was crucial in creating the conditions (via coercion and mass murder) for capitalism to come to dominate society.