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Politics and perceptions of automation risk

This collection, curated by IFOW Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Bristol, Dr Harry Pitts investigates how workers perceive and anticipate the risks and threats to their jobs posed by automation and other industrial shifts, as well as how these perceptions of risks are expressed politically. Work on this was funded by Research England and the Office for Students as part of the Bristol Model programme. Thanks to Samborne Bush, in particular, for his research assistance in putting together the collection. We are keen to critically engage with a wide range of perspectives on the future of work. These resources do not necessarily reflect the views of IFOW.

Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Political machinery: did robots swing the 2016 US presidential election?

Carl Frey, Thor Berger and Chinchih Chen investigate whether the perception of having lost out to technology correlates with support for "radical political change".
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

The appeal of nostalgia: The influence of societal pessimism on support for populist radical right parties

Eefje Steenvoorden and Eelco Harteveld compare levels of societal pessimism among populist radical right, radical left, mainstream left and mainstream right voters in eight European countries.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Labor market dualization and insider–outsider divides: why this new conflict matters

Hanna Schwander critically reviews the main findings of the emerging literature on insider–outsider divides to highlight its possible contributions to adjacent fields.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

The “losers of automation”: A reservoir of votes for the radical right?

A paper by Zhen Jie Im, Nonna Mayer, Bruno Palier and Jan Rovny studying the association between the risk of automation and vote choice in 11 countries.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Shrinking and shouting: the political revolt of the declining middle in times of employment polarization.

Thomas Kurer and Bruno Palier argue that the existing political science literature has not sufficiently connected the distributive implications of technological change with contemporary political disruptions.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Did state responses to automation matter for voters?

Jane Gingrich asks whether early responses to de-industrialisation and automation shaped how those affected negatively by technological change responded politically.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Could a rising robot workforce make humans less prejudiced?

A study finding that whilst countries facing the fastest automation experience high levels of prejudice towards outgroups, the risk of robotisation might reduce prejudice by building ‘panhuman’ solidarity.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Jobs at risk? Task routineness, offshorability and attitudes toward immigration

Antti Kaihovaara and Zhen Jie Im study the relationship between occupational vulnerability and attitudes towards immigration in Western Europe.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

The declining middle: Occupational change, social status and the populist right

Investigating the political consequences of occupational change in times of rapid technological advancement, and the economic and cultural roots of right-wing populism.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Technology threats to employment, issues and candidate and party preferences in the United States.

A paper finding that, controlling for party affiliation, the prioritisation of the economy or jobs does not necessarily impact voters' support for a given candidate.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Extreme pessimists? Expected socioeconomic downward mobility and the political attitudes of young adults

A paper showing that young adults develop ideological positions based on prospective socioeconomic decline.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Automation and public support for workfare

Zhen Jie Im and Kathrin Komp-Leukkunen posit that routine workers may support workfare to assuage their fears of status decline.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Automation and the future of work: How rhetoric shapes the response to policy preferences

Karen Jeffrey investigates how increasing perceived vulnerability to an automation shock influences redistributive preferences, and how exposure to rhetoric mediates that response.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Misattributed blame? Attitudes toward globalization in the age of automation

Nicole Wu contests that individuals understand the source of their economic anxieties, instead proposing there is 'misattributed blame'.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Technological risk and policy preferences

Aina Gallego, Alexander Kuo and José Fernández-Albertos present the results of a study that undermine the common assumption that objective risks of automation are key predictors of political concerns and preferences.
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Neither left behind nor superstar: Ordinary winners of digitalisation at the ballot box

An article proposing a middle ground between the "superstars" and "left behinds" of technologically-driven changes to work: "ordinary winners"
Politics and perceptions of automation risk

Automation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the workplace: Implications for political behaviour

Anna Gallego and Thomas Kurer discuss research about how digitalization may affect political participation, vote choice and policy preferences.

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