The Social Codes of Tech Workers

At the May 22 meeting of the CSO’s Work, Employment, and Professions Working Group, Robert Dorschel, Assistant Professor of Digital Sociology at the University of Cambridge, will give a presentation titled:
The Social Codes of Tech Workers

The session will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., both in person at Sciences Po, in the Council Room, 13 rue de l'Université 75007 Paris , and remotely via Zoom. If you would like to attend, please contact Samia Ben.

Abstract: 
Digital technologies shape nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet little attention has been paid to the tech workers who design and program these technologies. Instead, the spotlight often falls on two extremes: the elite class of tech entrepreneurs and the precarious digital proletariat of gig and crowd workers. This narrow focus has left a critical gap in understanding the middle-class professionals operating behind the scenes of digital capitalism. Drawing on over 50 original interviews and discourse analytical research conducted in the US and Germany, The Social Codes of Tech Workers takes readers deep into their hearts and minds. Robert Dorschel argues that tech workers’ subjectivity is structured by a return of social critique, hybrid professional roles, and distinctive lifestyles. The talk identifies tech workers as a contradictory class formation, oscillating between a spirit of emancipation and yet another spirit of capitalism. 

Robert Dorschel is Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology at the University of Cambridge. His research investigates how processes of digitalisation relate to work, class, and culture. He has studied the work ethic and class formation of tech workers, the professionalisation of data scientists, and the corporate cultures of tech firms. Robert studied sociology and political science at Humboldt-University Berlin, Duke University, and the University of Kiel, before completing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. His PhD dissertation, "The Social Codes of Tech Workers“, was awarded the Dissertation Prize by the Association of Internet Researchers and was published as a monograph by MIT Press in 2025. Between 2022 and 2024, Robert worked as Assistant Professor in Social Inequality at Tilburg University.