Workplace governance and labor perceptions of technological risks and benefits

Abstract This paper examines the connection between emerging workplace technologies and workers’ preferences, actions, and mobilization. Some workers organize against innovations in the workplace because they fear that the deployment of emerging technologies could exacerbate inequality. But more often, workers adopt or acquiesce to emerging technologies. Our paper argues that understanding workers’ responses (and non-responses) to technology requires taking the work context seriously. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, it conceptualizes different forms of workplace power that moderate the consequences of technological adoption, connecting these forms of power to various dimensions of workers’ preferences. It then reflects upon the methodological challenges of studying preferences and power. The analysis underscores the need for mid-level theoretical and empirical research of work contexts to advance the agenda on inclusive innovation.