Techno-Feudalism - Kirjakasa

No cover — Yanis Varoufakis: Techno-Feudalism (Hardcover, 2023, Random House Children's Books)

xiii, 281 sivua, 281 pages

English language

Published March 27, 2023 by Random House Children's Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-84792-728-6
Finna ID:: ekk.994320333506250

(1 review)

No one noticed when capitalism was ... replaced. Perhaps we were too distracted by the pandemic, or the endless financial crises, or the rise of TikTok. But under cover of them all, a new and more exploitative system has been taking hold. Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies went to big tech instead. Having privatised the internet, big tech has been able to replace capitalism's twin pillars - markets and profit - with its platforms and rents. With every click and scroll, we labour like serfs to increase its power. Welcome to technofeudalism: the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world, and the greatest current threat to social democracy. Drawing on stories from Greek Myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis explains this revolutionary transformation: how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of …

No one noticed when capitalism was ... replaced. Perhaps we were too distracted by the pandemic, or the endless financial crises, or the rise of TikTok. But under cover of them all, a new and more exploitative system has been taking hold. Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies went to big tech instead. Having privatised the internet, big tech has been able to replace capitalism's twin pillars - markets and profit - with its platforms and rents. With every click and scroll, we labour like serfs to increase its power. Welcome to technofeudalism: the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world, and the greatest current threat to social democracy. Drawing on stories from Greek Myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis explains this revolutionary transformation: how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of global power and ultimately what it will take overthrow it.

3 editions

Barbarius reviewed Techno-Feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis

Heavy, but very interesting

4 stars

This was a fascinating read. Essentially Varoufakis argues that capitalism is actually over, and that we are now in an era where rent derived from "digital fiefs" is dominant (e.g.: Amazon doesn't produce goods or acquire capital in the tratitional sense, but because no seller can survive without selling on Amazon, it operates like a fief extracting rent from the vassals (sellers) who have no option but to use their site). It's pretty heavy economic theory, but he frames it as a conversation with his late father, and does a good job at simplifying and explaining what he talks about.

Very interesting, and very convincing.

Subjects

kapitalismi
taloustieteet
yritykset
teknologinen kehitys
teknologia
kansainvälinen tekijänoikeus
kansainvälinen talous
demokratia