2019 Labor Studies Workshare Series
Labor Studies Workshare: "Inside the Velvet Sweatshop: Paradigms and Paradoxes of High-Tech Labor," w/Margaret O'Mara, Professor, UW History
Abstract: From the working conditions at Amazon warehouses to the white-collar pushback of the #GoogleWalkout, conditions of high-tech labor have seized headlines and triggered broader discussion about the inequities and insecurities of the modern workplace. Margaret O’Mara discusses the longer history behind Big Tech’s company culture and employment practices, and why current worker activism has the potential to alter the trajectory of where tech goes next.

Margaret O’Mara is the Howard & Frances Keller Professor of History at the University of Washington. She writes and teaches about the history of U.S. politics, the growth of the high-tech economy, and the connections between the two. She is the author of Cities of Knowledge (Princeton, 2005), Pivotal Tuesdays (Penn Press, 2015), and The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America (Penguin Press, 2019). O'Mara is a Distinguished Lecturer of the Organization of American Historians and a past fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Forum on the Future of Liberal Education. She received her MA/PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA from Northwestern University. Prior to her academic career, she worked in the Clinton White House and served as a contributing researcher at the Brookings Institution.  She lives in the Seattle area with her husband Jeff and their two daughters.  Website: margaretomara.com.http://margaretomara.com
About: The Labor Studies Workshare features UW faculty and graduate students presenting works-in-progress on labor-related topics for feedback from an interdisciplinary audience of labor scholars from across campus. Workshares are typically held over the lunch hour and attendees are invited to bring their lunches.

Workshare Format: Workshare papers are circulated to registered attendees a week in advance of the workshare. Participants are expected to have read the paper before the meeting and be prepared for a discussion. Registration required. To register, e-mail hbcls@uw.edu