#rp18-Speaker Peter Frase takes a look at the future of (work) environments

A sociologist and publicist, Frase is an editor at the leftist US-based magazine Jacobin where he writes about the intersection of work, politics, and technology. At re:publica, he will be holding two sessions about the future of work in a world dominated by robots.
 
In his “social science fiction” book Four Futures: Life After Capitalism, Frase explores the prevailing thesis that robots and AI will soon overtake all human employment. According to Frase, however, even if one would believe these predictions by experts and academics, it’s unclear what such a world would look like. To illustrate, he outlines two heavenly and two hellish scenarios of the future. What’s interesting about Frase’s predictions is that, contrary to what most mainstream futurists believe, he can’t envision an automated future where everyone will kick up their heels or pursue artistic self-actualization. He believes that the capitalist class system and climate change will collapse the world as we know it.
 
In Whose Future? Automation anxiety, ecological apocalypse, and the struggle for the future of labor he will be examining possible utopias and dystopias, making him a keynote speaker of “We can work it out”—a topic designed to sensitize listeners to socio-political conflicts within work and technology.
 
Designing Tomorrows / 4 Futures is Frase’s second addition to #rp18. In collaboration with Israeli game designer Shalev Moran, he will host a workshop to broaden our political horizon by developing methods and thought processes that explore a multitude of scenarios, rather than just one monolithic idea of the future.
 
Travel to the future with Peter Frase and us to get an idea of what may lie ahead.
 
For more information about the talk and workshop by Peter Frase, click here.

Links
> Website
> Twitter: @pefrase
> Book Four Futures
> Jacobin Mag Texts