Project description
How automation impacts worker rights
In a growing number of industries, technological advances increases productivity but decreases the need for human labour. The replacement of human workers by robotics or AI is controversial and has sparked discussions over workers’ rights and the future of democratic capitalism. The ERC-funded (DIS)EMPOWER project will design a theoretical framework for understanding how automation shapes workers’ power in the workplace and in democratic politics. It argues that automation can both empower and disempower workers, integrating concepts from various disciplines. Focusing on mobilisation, collective bargaining and the role of organised labour, the project will shed light on how automation affects workers at work and in the political arena, seeking to identify mechanisms that balance technological progress with equality and liberty.
Objective
The ongoing wave of work automation amplifies the fundamental question in the study of politics: who gets what, when, and how? Driven by computer and information technology, including pathbreaking advances in robotization and artificial intelligence (AI), it brings a combustive mix of productivity gains, machines displacing some jobs and enhancing others. The unfolding process of technological change has the potential to dramatically alter what ordinary people get at the workplace for their labor, and to spur polarizing political conflict over the basic rules of democratic capitalism. Several scholars emphasize that the consequences of technological change are not written in stone. However, our theoretical tools to analyze the interplay between automation and worker power are underdeveloped. Therefore, the overarching aim of (DIS)EMPOWER is to develop a much-needed theoretical framework of how automation shapes the power of workers in the workplace and in democratic politics, helping us to better understand the functioning of democratic capitalism in the face of transformative technological change. It argues that automation can empower as well as disempower workers. Anchored in political science, the project integrates theoretical elements from different fields into an ambitious unified framework. It pays particular attention to mobilization and collective bargaining, belief formation, and the role of organized labor in political competition under automation. It enables a multi-method and comparative data collection that unravels when and how automation (dis)empowers workers, at work and in the political arena. The investigation combines game theory, in-depth interviews, surveys with cutting-edge experiments, and case studies of the political reform of workers’ fundamental rights such as the right to unionize, bargain collectively, or strike. Altogether, (DIS)EMPOWER explores mechanisms that may help balance technological progress with equality and liberty.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology industrial relations automation
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
40003 Segovia
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.