Forthcoming from Oxford University Press

Political Automation: An Introduction to Driverless Government from Policing to Peacekeeping

Governments increasingly use AI-based software to produce policy decisions according to a set of programmed instructions. These “bureaucratic bots” routinely gather information about our lives and decide matters of resource allocation; they determine, for example, who gets policed and who gets state benefits. As automation edges up the ladder of cognitive skills, increasingly complex policy-making functions will be taken over from human supervision, including on matters of national security and international peacekeeping. The role of humans in the act of policy production itself is therefore changing, as many find themselves at a new “frontier” of citizenship. This book (forthcoming 2023), will explore that frontier. Image credit: Nicholas Albrecht.

Published Books

Available Now

Alter-globalization in Southern Europe

Considering the rise of global political instability and subsequent importance of new social movements, I examine the relationship between the alter-globalization movement and political power in Italy, Spain, and Greece. I argue that not only is the movement anti-political, but that it operates within an apolitical social milieu, as a ritualized holding pattern for middle class youths that find themselves uncomfortably placed between a receding state structure on the one hand, and a rising informal economy on the other. Its ritual liminality allows adherents to act revolutionary while assuring that their middle class privileges remain intact. I consider the social ramifications of the movement at a time when Europe finds itself at a political and economic crossroads, and offer specific and timely case studies from the three southern European countries.

Buy Now