Current debates about technological change and the future of work have a rich history. In his talk, Bachmann will be exploring some aspects of that history, drawing from his current research on James Boggs and Charles Denby, two black labor activists from Detroit. In the early 1960s, Boggs and Denby published insightful articles about the impact of automation and cybernation on the workers in Detroit's automobile plants and beyond. By teasing out some of the main ideas of their works, Richard will show that Boggs and Denby still have a lot to contribute to current discussions of the future of work.

Richard Bachmann is a first-year graduate student in the Department of History at U-M and a fellow of the Science, Technology, and Society Graduate Certificate Program. His current research focuses on the 1950s/60s debates in the U.S. and Europe about the repercussions of automation and cybernation for the labor market and society. Richard received both his B.A. (2012) and M.A. (2016) in American Studies from Leipzig University, Germany, and spent two semesters at Ohio University's Global Leadership Center in 2011 as a B.A. Plus Fellow.