Post-Capitalist Techno-Futures: Beyond Instrumental Utopianism

Abstract

The technology sector is at the forefront of capitalist accumulation today and should be a prime focus of post-capitalist visions. Progressive politics can do much to counter the self-interested techno-utopian visions of Silicon Valley elites by conjuring radical futures based on principles of social, economic, and racial justice and attuned to questions of class. We show how these visions must be engaged with the current struggles and conditions of exploitation and informed by principles of resistance to the modes of capitalist exploitation. We advocate for radical futures that unsettle the balance of power, but rather than prescribe a vision we outline key principles that ought to guide these visions and deserve further attention. These principles are Democratic Governance, Worker Power, Socially Beneficial Production, and Meaningful Labour.