Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 26/06/2026We talk endlessly about tech bosses but know surprisingly little about how their entrepreneurial mindset is formed. In this new article, I develop the concept of the entrepreneurial gaze to explain how early-stage entrepreneurs come to see and evaluate the world www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....tandfonline.comThe entrepreneurial gaze of digital capitalismScholars have unearthed how tech companies exert unprecedented power through new modes of accumulation and control. Less attention has been paid to the social actors who command these companies. In... 1174
Reposted by Robert DorschelTobias Rüttenauer @ruettenauer.bsky.social · 28/05/2026📢 Open positions! I’m recruiting 2 postdocs + 3 PhD positions at C³S, @goetheuni.bsky.social in #ClimateJustice, environmental inequality, #Demography & #ComputationalSocialScience 🌍📊💻 3–4 years + strong support for training🎒 Deadline: 23 June 2026 More: www.uni-frankfurt.de/48794987/Zen... 06880
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026One I am aware of: blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofb...blogs.lse.ac.ukThe social codes and class identity of tech workers - LSE Review of BooksRobert Dorschel's The Social Codes of Tech Workers is a sociological study of class identity among mid-level digital labourers in the age of AI. 020
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The book is available open-access here: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...direct.mit.eduThe Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital CapitalismHow 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 182
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026It was really great to visit the @cso-sciencespo.bsky.social at the Sciences Po Paris and present my book on the social codes of tech workers Fascinating discussion of the organisational environments tech workers navigate and their quest to be middle class wealthy and morally worthy 171
Reposted by Robert DorschelLSE Blogs @lseblogs.bsky.social · 24/04/2026The contradictory social codes and class identity of tech workers: @robertdorschel.bsky.social's book @mitpress.bsky.social reviewed by @sakhavi.bsky.social on @lsereviewofbooks.bsky.socialblogs.lse.ac.ukThe social codes and class identity of tech workers - LSE Review of BooksRobert Dorschel's The Social Codes of Tech Workers is a sociological study of class identity among mid-level digital labourers in the age of AI. 041
Reposted by Robert DorschelLSE Review of Books @lsereviewofbooks.bsky.social · 21/04/2026NEW: The contradictory social codes and class identity of tech workers. The Social Codes of Tech Workers by @robertdorschel.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk @mitpress.bsky.social, a sociological study of class among mid-level digital labourers, reviewed by @sakhavi.bsky.social 👇blogs.lse.ac.ukThe social codes and class identity of tech workers - LSE Review of BooksRobert Dorschel's The Social Codes of Tech Workers is a sociological study of class identity among mid-level digital labourers in the age of AI. 1122
Reposted by Robert DorschelSteffen Mau @steffenmau.bsky.social · 23/03/2026We are hiring! The Department of Inequality, Transformation and Conflict is looking for Postdoc & Doc Researchers (m/f/d). Find out more & apply via www.ips.mpg.de #MaxPlanck #Postdoc #PhD #Sociology #SocialScience #PoliticalScience #Inequality #Conflict www.ips.mpg.de/13135/stelle...ips.mpg.deStellenangebote 110254
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 16/03/2026Excited to present my book on #techworkers in London this Thursday! If you're around, you can sign up here: autonomy.work/portfolio/ro... And if you want to read the book, it's available open-access: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon... 073
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 05/03/2026I agree but would argue that the narratives differ across elite institutions. Merit can be defined and constructed in different ways. The article explores that by analysing how founders instruct and mentor aspiring founders 000
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 03/03/2026🎉 Just published in @bjsociology.bsky.social Tech entrepreneurs are increasingly reshaping society and politics, but how do they justify their advantageous positions? My article analyses and unpacks dominant narratives in the world's most famous and elite startup accelerator: YCombinatoronlinelibrary.wiley.comEntrepreneuring Legitimacy: A Case Study of the Cultural Codes and Boundary‐Makings of the Tech EliteHow do those who are pulling away economically justify their advantageous positions? This issue has acquired salience in the context of rising inequalities and propelled a reflourishing of sociologic... 1133
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 22/01/2026Happy 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 060
Reposted by Robert DorschelProf Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 21/01/2026Its 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...newbooksnetwork.comRobert Dorschel, "The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism" (MIT Press, 2025) - New Books Network 064
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Thanks Sam - really appreciate your support on the way to this publication! 010
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 17/12/2025At 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/...books.google.co.ukThe Social Codes of Tech WorkersHow 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... 031
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 17/12/2025It‘s published 🎉 I‘m very excited to share that my book „The Social Codes of Tech Workers“ 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. 6293
Reposted by Robert DorschelDepartment of Sociology, University of Cambridge @camsociology.bsky.social · 08/12/2025We 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. 0104
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 17/10/2025We 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...cam.ac.ukAssistant Professor Social Studies of MedicineThis 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 042
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 13/08/2025Deutschland droht eine Verwandlung von einer Leistungsgesellschaft hin zu einer Erfolgsgesellschaft. Mein Plädoyer für eine Vermögenssteuer anstelle immer höherer Abgaben auf Arbeitseinkommen @faznet.bsky.social www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...faz.netZukunft des Wohlfahrtsstaats: Warum wir eine Vermögenssteuer brauchenDie Politik versucht, den Wohlfahrtsstaat durch höhere Abgaben auf Einkommen zu retten. Dabei wird das meiste Vermögen durch Aktien und Immobilien generiert – und sollte entsprechend besteuert werden.... 050
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 01/08/2025Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it :) 000
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025A book on tech workers in Eastern Europe and Asia would be fascinating! 110
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025Valid question. It focuses on tech workers in the US and Germany 110
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025Just 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! 45810
Reposted by Robert DorschelRobert Seyfert @seyfert.bsky.social · 02/07/2025The anthropomorphising of AI and ourselves. "That is the real risk: not that machines become people, but that we forget—we were never what we think we are." hedgehogreview.com/web-features...hedgehogreview.comThe Self That Never WasWe may be approaching a time when the illusion of selfhood is strengthened, not weakened, because we are surrounded by machines enacting it. 063
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 18/06/2025Our 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.socialjobs.ac.ukThe Professorship of Sociology (1985) at University of CambridgeApply 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. 196
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 12/06/2025Happy 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....tandfonline.comBody, beauty, enrichment: Theorizing the rise of the cosmetic industry through Boltanski and Esquerre's framework of enrichmentThis 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... 041
Reposted by Robert DorschelPer Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 10/06/2025Sociology is mostly about choosing whether something is “structured”, “contingent”, or “performed” 7375
Reposted by Robert DorschelDr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 25/04/2025Silicon 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 🧵: 1221633586
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Excited to be in Manchester and to attend the annual conference of the British Sociological Association #britsoc25 @bsasocrel.bsky.social At 3.30pm, I‘ll be giving a talk on the tech elite and how they entrepreneur legitimacy 060
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 18/04/2025Interesting 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...theideasletter.orgThe War on the Liberal Class - The Ideas LetterLiberalism is under existential threat not only ideologically but materially, as the traditional liberal “New Class”—comprising professionals in academia, media, government, and culture—is systematica... 053
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 14/04/2025Very important issue! Looking forward to reading your new article 110
Reposted by Robert DorschelSidney Rothstein @sidneyrothstein.bsky.social · 14/04/2025To 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 5239
Reposted by Robert DorschelCarla Ibled @cibled.bsky.social · 10/04/2025Very 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....tandfonline.com‘Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneurSilicon 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... 96836
Reposted by Robert DorschelBruno Cousin @brunocousin.bsky.social · 10/04/2025Thanks 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/...onlinelibrary.wiley.comVarieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)The strategies, decisions and beliefs of those who occupy prominent positions of economic power have influence on very large corporations and the markets they dominate, on vast amounts of economic re.... 0146
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 09/04/2025Truly 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 020
Reposted by Robert DorschelLSE Inequalities @lseinequalities.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Our blog – LSE Inequalities – covers all aspects of inequalities and dividing lines such as class, race and gender. We just published our 100th post 🎉 – @norawaitkus.bsky.social on wealth inequality from a class perspective #LSEInequalitiesBlogbuff.lyHow to think about wealth inequality from a class perspectiveWhat 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. 0218
Reposted by Robert DorschelKean Birch @keanbirch.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Just out! Article on "Architectures of #assetization: Legacy infrastructures and the configuration of #datafication in UK #highereducation" w/ @jkom.bsky.social & Sam Sellar in New Media & Society #platforms #edtech #digital #bigtech journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...journals.sagepub.comSage Journals: Discover world-class researchSubscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher. 0219
Reposted by Robert DorschelJulian Heide @julianheide.bsky.social · 29/03/2025CfP: Veränderungspioniere und Veränderungserschöpfte. Zur Wahrnehmung sozialen Wandels. Auf dem Soziologiekongress im September wollen wir uns mit Wahrnehmungen sozialen Wandels beschäftigten. Einreichungen sind bis 30.04. herzlich willkommen! kongress2025.soziologie.de/fileadmin/us...kongress2025.soziologie.de 1167
Reposted by Robert DorschelTim Christiaens @timchristiaens.bsky.social · 28/03/2025🚨 Publication alert 🚨 my paper on ratings and reviews in the gig economy is out in Ethics and Information Technology. I study the ethics of Airbnb’s rating system and how it coordinates trust & power-relations between workers, consumers and the platform itself. link.springer.com/article/10.1... 1259
Robert Dorschel @robertdorschel.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Fantastic, multi-faceted special issue on the phenomenon of tech work and the underexplored segment of high-paid workers in digital capitalism @vni.bsky.social #techworkers www.scienceopen.com/hosted-docum...scienceopen.comTrouble in paradise? : Tech work and its discontents<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d1374469e145">Introducing this special issue, this article gives an overview of recent debates around tech workers i... 1126
Reposted by Robert DorschelJournal of Cultural Economy @jcultecon.bsky.social · 25/03/2025(Nearly) new: Global warming as investment climate: green tech and the translation of needs - @robertdorschel.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....tandfonline.comGlobal warming as investment climate: green tech and the translation of needsClimate change is not only altering temperatures but also the very composition of the economic field. So-called ‘green tech firms’ are successfully claiming new jurisdictional task areas related to... 044
Reposted by Robert DorschelPer Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 21/03/2025Hiring again! Lecturer in Sociology. We're looking for someone strongly anchored in sociology through high-profile contributions, and with the ability to appeal to students and colleagues of various methodological orientations. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...ucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 15044
Reposted by Robert DorschelSamuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 19/03/2025Assistant Professorship in Digital Humanities and Film and Screen Studies at Cambridge www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMI593/a...jobs.ac.ukAssistant Professorship in Digital Humanities and Film and Screen Studies at University of CambridgeAn opportunity for an academic position as a Assistant Professorship in Digital Humanities and Film and Screen Studies is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic j... 033