Book Launch: Reworking the Computer Age

Join us to launch the publication of Reworking the Computer Age: Histories of Emotions, Work, and Gender. The volume retraces the global computer age from the point of view of work and the workplace, bringing new attention to how the rise of office technologies changed gender roles and emotional regimes. Edited by Christiane Berth and Michael Prentice, the book features contributions from Martina Heßler, Anna Baumann, Helen Glew, Heidi Schweickert, Nina Jahrbacher, and Monika Arnez.

Official book blurb

Taking a global perspective to the computer age reveals how work, gender, and emotions have shaped its history. Since the 1960s, workplaces have been key sites for the introduction of computers, transforming organizations, future imaginaries, and perceptions of self and others. Yet, contrary to dominant narratives, this process was neither smooth nor universally welcomed. Workers and organizations responded in diverse ways, forming distinct emotional communities amid profound change. Across eight chapters, case studies from Europe, Asia, and Latin America offer new insights into the global computer age and invite reflection on our present relationship with technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and ongoing workplace transformations.