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Industry 4.0: Robotics and Contradictions

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Technologies of Labour and the Politics of Contradiction

Part of the book series: Dynamics of Virtual Work ((DVW))

Abstract

Pfeiffer argues that the Industry 4.0 debate, as a result of developments in robotics, regards human labour as replaceable, especially in the areas of production and assembly, which are often held to consist largely of routine tasks. The author nonetheless shows how current labour market predictions concerning the replaceability of human labour are inadequate. On the basis of qualitative studies, she outlines the crucial significance of non-routine activity in highly automated environments. These qualitative findings are then used to create the labour capacity index (LC), which is then applied to a quantitative dataset of 20,000 German employees. The analysis highlights the importance of non-routine work even within highly automated and robotics-dependent areas of mechanical and automotive engineering and typical occupations today. The empirical data supports the theoretical contention that the contradiction between the use value and exchange value of labour cannot be resolved through increasing digitisation.

Work for this chapter originated within the research projects ‘RAKOON—Innovation by active collaboration in open organisations’ and ‘diGAP—Decent Agile Project Work in the digitised World’; funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    How often does it happen in your occupational activity…: …that you have to react to and solve problems?; …that you have to take difficult decisions autonomously?; …that you have to communicate with other people in your occupational activity?

  2. 2.

    How often does it happen in your occupational activity…: …that you have to work under strong pressure of time or performance?; …that your work is disturbed or interrupted, e.g. by colleagues, inferior materials, machine malfunctions or phone calls?; …that you are expected to do things you have not learned or you are not proficient in?; …that you have to keep an eye on different work processes or sequences at the same time ?; …that even a small mistake or a slight inattentiveness can lead to larger financial losses?; …that you have to work very quickly?; …that you don’t receive all the information necessary for performing your work correctly?

  3. 3.

    In the last two years, have…: …new manufacturing or process technologies been introduced?; new computer programs been introduced?; …new machines or equipment been introduced?; …new or significantly changed products or materials been employed?; …new or significantly changed services been provided?; …there been significant restructurings or reorganisation pertaining to your immediate work environment? How did work pressure and stress change in the last two years?

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuremberg Campus of Technology (NCT), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany

    Sabine Pfeiffer

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  1. Sabine Pfeiffer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations, Zagreb, Croatia

    Paško Bilić

  2. Department for Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations, Zagreb, Croatia

    Jaka Primorac

  3. Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Bjarki Valtýsson

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Pfeiffer, S. (2018). Industry 4.0: Robotics and Contradictions. In: Bilić , P., Primorac, J., Valtýsson, B. (eds) Technologies of Labour and the Politics of Contradiction. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76279-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76279-1_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76278-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76279-1

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