Robert Dorschel's Avatar

Robert Dorschel

@robertdorschel.bsky.social

Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology @ University of Cambridge; researching tech workers, digital economy, class, and culture https://research.sociology.cam.ac.uk/profile/dr-robert-dorschel

1,331 Followers  |  890 Following  |  45 Posts  |  Joined: 27.09.2023
Posts Following

Posts by Robert Dorschel (@robertdorschel.bsky.social)

Post image

Happy to share that my book on #techworkers is now available open-access: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

And if you’re in or around Cambridge, you’re very welcome to join the book launch next Friday, 30 January @camsociology.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

22.01.2026 15:28 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Robert Dorschel, "The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism" (MIT Press, 2025) - New Books Network

Its only January, but there's a book of the year contender on @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social! @robertdorschel.bsky.social discusses "The Social Codes of Tech Workers: A Contradictory Middle Class in the Making" newbooksnetwork.com/the-social-c...

21.01.2026 17:32 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

18.12.2025 14:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks!

18.12.2025 14:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Sam - really appreciate your support on the way to this publication!

17.12.2025 12:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you, Karen!

17.12.2025 12:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Tim!

17.12.2025 12:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Social Codes of Tech Workers How the coders of our digital worlds think, work, and live.Digital technologies shape nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet little attention has been paid to the tech workers who design and program th...

At the end of the month the whole book will be available open access. You can already access the first chapter here: books.google.co.uk/books/about/...

17.12.2025 12:23 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Itβ€˜s published πŸŽ‰ Iβ€˜m very excited to share that my book β€žThe Social Codes of Tech Workersβ€œ is now out with @mitpress.bsky.social

You can find it in bookstores and online. Thanks to everyone who supported me on the journey! See comments section for link to the first chapter.

17.12.2025 12:21 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 0
poster for Dr Dorschel's book launch for his book "The Social Codes of Tech Workers"

poster for Dr Dorschel's book launch for his book "The Social Codes of Tech Workers"

We are excited to announce
@robertdorschel.bsky.social's upcoming book launch for his book "The Social Codes of Tech Workers.". The launch will be held next term on January 30th in the Sociology Seminar Room from 4pm until 5:30pm.

08.12.2025 14:26 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Assistant Professor Social Studies of Medicine This is a joint post 65% Sociology, 35% HPS. The Departments of Sociology and History and Philosophy of Science are looking to recruit an Assistant Professor in the Social Studies of Medicine in a

We are hiring 🚨 The Cambridge Department of Sociology @camsociology.bsky.social, together with the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science, is looking for an Assistant Professor in the Social Studies of Medicine. It's a unique joint post! More details here: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...

17.10.2025 17:05 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
Zukunft des Wohlfahrtsstaats: Warum wir eine VermΓΆgenssteuer brauchen Die Politik versucht, den Wohlfahrtsstaat durch hΓΆhere Abgaben auf Einkommen zu retten. Dabei wird das meiste VermΓΆgen durch Aktien und Immobilien generiert – und sollte entsprechend besteuert werden....

Deutschland droht eine Verwandlung von einer Leistungsgesellschaft hin zu einer Erfolgsgesellschaft. Mein PlΓ€doyer fΓΌr eine VermΓΆgenssteuer anstelle immer hΓΆherer Abgaben auf Arbeitseinkommen @faznet.bsky.social

www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

13.08.2025 13:38 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it :)

01.08.2025 07:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A book on tech workers in Eastern Europe and Asia would be fascinating!

31.07.2025 19:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Valid question. It focuses on tech workers in the US and Germany

31.07.2025 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Just finished reviewing the final proofs of my forthcoming book on #techworkers. It sheds light on the high-paid professionals in the tech industry. The book is coming out open-access with @mitpress.bsky.social this December. Very excited about it!

31.07.2025 11:34 β€” πŸ‘ 57    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
The Self That Never Was We may be approaching a time when the illusion of selfhood is strengthened, not weakened, because we are surrounded by machines enacting it.

The anthropomorphising of AI and ourselves.

"That is the real risk: not that machines become people, but that we forgetβ€”we were never what we think we are."

hedgehogreview.com/web-features...

02.07.2025 09:39 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Professorship of Sociology (1985) at University of Cambridge Apply for the The Professorship of Sociology (1985) role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Our department is hiring for this prestigious professorship! Applications are welcome from scholars working in any area of the discipline. The position offers a competitive salary.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNI980/t... @camsociology.bsky.social

18.06.2025 14:21 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks 😊

12.06.2025 13:39 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Body, beauty, enrichment: Theorizing the rise of the cosmetic industry through Boltanski and Esquerre's framework of enrichment This article enquires into the cosmetic procedures industry, a growing economic field which offers individuals a variety of professional services to aesthetically enhance their bodies. Expanding th...

Happy to see this new article published! Written with Anne-Mette Hermans, the article analyzes and theorizes the rise of the cosmetic industry through the novel theoretical framework of enrichment

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

12.06.2025 12:22 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Sociology is mostly about choosing whether something is β€œstructured”, β€œcontingent”, or β€œperformed”

10.06.2025 13:10 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 3
Post image

Silicon Valley is run by people who genuinely think the world as we know it is going to end in the next few decades. Many also WANT this to happen: they WANT the biological world to be replaced by a new digital world. They WANT "posthumans" to take the place of humans. A 🧡:

25.04.2025 20:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1647    πŸ” 590    πŸ’¬ 123    πŸ“Œ 280
Post image

Excited to be in Manchester and to attend the annual conference of the British Sociological Association #britsoc25 @bsasocrel.bsky.social
At 3.30pm, Iβ€˜ll be giving a talk on the tech elite and how they entrepreneur legitimacy

23.04.2025 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The War on the Liberal Class - The Ideas Letter Liberalism is under existential threat not only ideologically but materially, as the traditional liberal β€œNew Class”—comprising professionals in academia, media, government, and cultureβ€”is systematica...

Interesting article on the upper-middle-class and how it has managed to end up under massive pressure in the post-liberal conjuncture

www.theideasletter.org/essay/the-wa...

18.04.2025 10:04 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Very important issue! Looking forward to reading your new article

14.04.2025 14:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
screenshot of first page of article

screenshot of first page of article

To what extent can tech workers mobilize as part of the broader working class?

This is the question I take up in my new paper "Solidarity across the platform: mobilizing high-wage and low-wage workers in the tech sector" -- just out in Work in the Global Economy

1/n

14.04.2025 14:40 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
β€˜Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneur Silicon Valley’s tech moguls have increasing political ambitions, as spectacularly illustrated by Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk’s involvements in the US 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential e...

Very happy to say that my article on Musk and Thiel's political theory of the founder (drawing on Lacan on the way) is out with @jcultecon.bsky.social! Strange to see it out there with all what happened in the last year, but it will hopefully make it a good read

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

10.04.2025 16:00 β€” πŸ‘ 68    πŸ” 36    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 6

Thanks a lot to @simonkuper.bsky.social & the @financialtimes.com for this close reading of our research article on the economic elites of 16 countries, and for jump-starting the public discussion about it! The paper @bjsociology.bsky.social is avaisble here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

10.04.2025 11:26 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Truly fascinating talk by Michèle Lamont today across the issues of recognition, class and social change. Great to have such an inspiring sociologist visiting our department @mlamont.bsky.social @camsociology.bsky.social

09.04.2025 15:51 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
How to think about wealth inequality from a class perspective What can class analysis tell us about wealth inequality? Insights from Marx, Weber and Bourdieu can help us think about wealth inequality in a more nuanced way.

Our blog – LSE Inequalities – covers all aspects of inequalities and dividing lines such as class, race and gender. We just published our 100th post πŸŽ‰ – @norawaitkus.bsky.social on wealth inequality from a class perspective #LSEInequalitiesBlog

03.04.2025 13:37 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0