How Technological Change Reshapes Politics: Technology, Elections, and Policies (TECHNO)

Coordinator Institution: Institute for Social Research

Technological change and automation are disrupting labor markets in advanced democracies and rekindling fears about technological unemployment and how the future of work will be. While there is little doubt that rapid technological progress has far-reaching economic effects, its political consequences remain largely unexplored. The goal of this project is to study how technological change in the workplace contributes to ongoing deep political transformations (including the surge of populist movements), the adoption of policies to address change, and the political consequences of such policies.

The collaborative research project is organized in four complementary work packages (WP). The Spanish team will be in charge of WP1, which examines how workers individual economic trajectories and political behavior change when their industries digitalize.

The project will contribute to understanding how the grievances generated by profound technological change manifest themselves politically. It will result in recommendations of politically viable and effective policies to help workers and communities adapt to a fast-changing economic landscape and increased insecurity about what the future of jobs will be, which ensures a high potential for impact.

NORFACE Democratic Governance in a Turbulent Age (Governance) Joint Research Programme