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Barbora Cernusakova

@bcernusa.bsky.social

420 followers 430 following 59 posts

Labour disciplining & racialised debt | Digital rights of workers | Written: 'Surplused Lives. Roma under Czech racial capitalism.' MUP | Hallsworth Fellow, University of Manchester. past: researcher @amnesty https://vimeo.com/842892762/c58992

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · Jun 16

In this article in the New Political Economy, I discuss the extractive & disciplinary power of household debt over Roma workers in Czechia. Drawing on ethnography, I show how the unpayable debt becomes a mechanism to discipline labour as a whole.

shorturl.at/VOQrB
@uomsociology.bsky.social

Disciplining of Roma workers through predatory debt in Czechia

Looking at the entrapment of Roma workers in unpayable debts in Czechia, this article discusses the relationship between racialisation, predatory debt and labour disciplining. Drawing on long-term ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Barbora Cernusakova

Paris Marx @parismarx.com · Aug 21

We need our countries to get serious about abandoning US tech and putting serious resources behind developing more public-oriented alternatives their citizens can use instead.

Always great to get @ceciliarikap.bsky.social’s insights on these topics. Don’t miss our chat!

Tech Won’t Save Us @techwontsave.us · Aug 21

For years, countries accepted their dependence on US tech companies. That needs to change.

This week @ceciliarikap.bsky.social joins @parismarx.com to discuss why it’s so important for governments to champion digital sovereignty that puts people first.

Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/290_...

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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 5d

“We knew the Irish would stand with us,” - Max Levitas (102)
www.irishtimes.com/culture/heri... #CableStreet

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 6d

It's a great piece!

Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 6d

"Both Argentina and Turkey show how class coalitions can briefly expand policy space, but without structural transformation these tactical gains evaporate. In both cases, dependency on volatile capital flows... has forced governments back into orthodoxy and deeper external subordination."

Umit Akcay @umitak.bsky.social · 6d

Last week at the EAEPE conference, I presented a co-authored paper on Argentina’s and Turkey’s responses to the 2018 currency crises and their class dynamics. The timing coincided with Milei’s U.S. visit and new support package. Here’s a short blogpost on this:
open.substack.com/pub/umitak/p...

Argentina in Crisis Mode Again

U.S. bailout buys Milei time, but shock therapy deepens poverty. Like Turkey, dependent financialization offers no exit, only a pause before the next crash.

open.substack.com

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 6d

Marco Omizzolo: “The government & the mainstream media have framed Satnam’s death as a scandal, when it is in fact the horrific expression of a daily reality experienced by hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers, most of them migrants, who are not only exploited but whose lives are at risk."

LabourStart @labourstart.bsky.social · 6d

ITALY: “How many more Satnams have to die” before the deadly and systemic exploitation of migrant farmworkers in Italy is dismantled? www.equaltimes.org/how-many-mor...

“How many more Satnams have to die” before the deadly and systemic exploitation of migrant farmworkers in Italy is dismantled?

In the early morning hours, the roads of Latina province, south of Rome, are already crowded with commuters – not in cars, but on bicycles. Migrant agricultural workers cycle up to 30 kilometres to re...

www.equaltimes.org

Reposted by Barbora Cernusakova

Ruth Houghton @ruthhoughton.bsky.social · 9d

Brillaint article “Fail better”: Utopia, Rosa Luxemburg, and learning from failure by @mmrovlje.bsky.social is also part of the Special Issue on Utopia and Failure

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Bright Wall/Dark Room @bwdr.bsky.social · 10d

“Every film is political. Most political of all are those that pretend not to
be: entertainment movies. They are the most political films because they dismiss the possibility of change. In every frame they tell you everything's fine… a continual advertisement for things as they are.”

- Wim Wenders

a black and white photo of two men standing in front of a wall with graffiti on it

ALT: a black and white photo of two men standing in front of a wall with graffiti on it

media.tenor.com

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 12d

"The U.S. is planning to push chipmakers to match the volume of semiconductors that their customers currently import from overseas providers through domestic production, or pay a tariff, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday."

finance.yahoo.com/news/us-plan...

US plans 1:1 chip production rule to curb overseas reliance, WSJ reports

President Donald Trump has doubled down on his efforts to reshore semiconductor manufacturing, offering exemptions from tariffs of roughly 100% on chips to firms that produce domestically. Companies ...

finance.yahoo.com

Reposted by Barbora Cernusakova

Lisa Nakamura @lnakamura.bsky.social · May 2

My book ms "The Inattention Economy: Seeing the Digital Labor of Women of Color” is in production at the University of Minnesota Press. So grateful to Anne Carter and Leah Pennywark at UMP. It's a book about how the work of digital infrastructure became women of colors' work and thus invisible

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 14d

"The inherent exclusivity and parochialism of the modern nation-state is not a marginal phenomenon but constitutes a central feature of our political system, which is likely
to spread unless contained, and, as such, we are all likely to be forced to confront it one way or the other."

Mikkel Flohr @mflohr.bsky.social · 15d

"I'm really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell. In America we've taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration."

–Trump to the UN

Suddenly feel the need to share my article "Beyond the Nation State: Rereading Hannah Arendt's 'We Refugees' Eighty Years Later" again

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 15d

"AI" and outsourced labour:

"Huang has said that for every 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure deployed, as much as $50bn is spent on the computing hardware... as well as the server racks that are produced by the likes of Foxconn, HP, Dell and Super Micro"

www.ft.com/content/7cee...

Nvidia’s $100bn bet on ‘gigantic AI factories’ to power ChatGPT

Jensen Huang seeks to ensure US chipmaker stays at the heart of new tech

www.ft.com

Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 17d

"In contrast to futurist predictions of the proliferation of labour-replacing technologies, the analysis shows how food retailers continued to prioritise short-term solutions contingent on human labour rather than investments in longer-term automation programme."

Charles Umney @charlesumney.bsky.social · 17d

Many congratulations to @abbiewinton.bsky.social for this outstanding new paper in @ntwejournal.bsky.social! Essential reading for understanding technological adoption in retail workplaces, with a lot of additional insight into the implications of covid 🚨🚨👇👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Sociotechnical Change in British Supermarkets: Examining the Role of Labour

Lead author Abbie Winton

When predicting the future of retail work, commentators tend to focus on automation and labour replacement and neglect the continued role played by labour, particularly in food retail. To understand this role, this article draws on both interview and newspaper data to show how change unfolded in the sector from before to just after the Coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, it shows how increased technology adoption and use in food retail occurred alongside an increased reliance on labour. The availability of a flexible labour pool that was easy to scale and later disband enabled employers to respond to increased consumer demand rapidly. In contrast to futurist predictions of the proliferation of labour-replacing technologies, the analysis shows how food retailers continued to prioritise short-term solutions contingent on human labour rather than investments in longer-term automation programmes, reflecting historical patterns of sociotechnical change within the sector.

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🔴 Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung @rosaluxstiftung.bsky.social · 21d

In «Konterrevolution und Revolte» beschreibt Herbert Marcuse, wie die westlichen Staaten nach den 68er-Protesten mit einer Konterrevolution reagierten, um das kapitalistische System zu restabilisieren. 👉 Hört jetzt die neue Folge «tl;dr» – überall dort, wo es Podcasts gibt.

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 23d

"Amidst lax regulatory guidelines, payment and lending platforms mushroomed in India to such an extent that they created unease and anxiety among consumers and regulators, as some predatory loan apps... started harassing customers who could not repay on time."

Niels van Doorn @nielsvdoorn.bsky.social · May 22

💥

Platforms & Society @platformsnsociety.bsky.social · May 22

How is the fungibility of money<->data in #credit relations intermediated? Writing about #India, in a recent paper Rahul Mukherjee traces the #platform #intermediation processes in the loan app ecosystem. Read more here journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Reposted by Barbora Cernusakova

Monish Bhatia @monish.bsky.social · Sep 8

Hey You'll 🙂✊🏾

"No Release" - a film based on my recent BA project on immigration GPS ankle monitors, directed by amazing Sînziana Cojocărescu, is going to be screened at the BLOC cinema QMUL, on 22nd September. More details and registration link below.

dandelion.events/e/no-release...

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · 28d

Sectoral variations in the use of algorithmic management across Europe. Most prevalent in financial services:
- 35% workers report that it's used to monitor their work performance:
- 34 % report AM used to *allocate* their work tasks.

European Working Conditions Survey 2024
tinyurl.com/4rhbfh4n

Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · Sep 8

"Debt redistributes wealth from the working poor to the rentiers, but under the auspices of necessity."

Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · Sep 3

The AGAINST THE DAY section of this issue is titled "Making Debt Visible." The entire section is freely available. buff.ly/bmvNKUo

Volume 124 Issue 3 | South Atlantic Quarterly | Duke University Press

South Atlantic Quarterly | 124 | 3 | July 2025

buff.ly

Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · Jul 30

Hannes Langguth's research of a new EV battery gigafactory in Thuringia (Germany) challenges the view that transnational investments in strategic production necessarily benefits the 'left-behind' spaces. A complex explanation is offered:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

‘Left-behind’ amid the ‘boom’? Large-scale green technology projects and reinforced peripheralisation in Eastern Germany - Hannes Langguth, 2025

Driven by the recent investment surge in large-scale green technology projects, the European Union’s shift towards climate neutrality has sparked new developmen...

journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Barbora Cernusakova

Ari Ezra Waldman @ariezra.bsky.social · Jul 2

This new book on the theory and method of law and technology by the brilliant @rcalo.bsky.social is so important! Congrats Ryan!

Ryan Calo @rcalo.bsky.social · Jun 29

I am so damn excited to share my new book, Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach. Full of stories and priced at $40, this book explains why law finds technology so difficult to regulate, and what to do about it. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · Jul 16

🚨New video!

Communities impacted by green hydrogen projects in South Africa finally had their voices heard by MEPs and the European Commission for the first time.

🤥 Incredibly disappointing: the Commission denied the EU was involved in any of the projects shown

corporateeurope.org/en/2025/07/h...

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Christopher R. Matthews @drcrmatthews.bsky.social · Jul 4

Do you know anyone who would like to review my book for an excellent methods journals? If so please tag them or DM me. It would be perfrct for a PhD student. Info on the book here: www.routledge.com/Doing-Good-S....

Doing Good Social Science: Lessons from Immersion, Understanding Social Life and Exploring the In-between

Doing Good Social Science takes readers on a personal and thought-provoking journey and empowers readers to become unshakeable, free-thinking scholars. Drawing from nearly two decades of experience in...

www.routledge.com

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · Jul 3

Steel maker ArcelorMittal has pulled the plug on its green steel plans, despite the offer of €1.3bn in subsidies. It claims it didn't make business sense.

It begs the question: can the market deliver on the green transition - and if not, what other model do we need?

www.dw.com/en/arcelormi...

ArcelorMittal withdraws from green steel transformation – DW – 07/01/2025

ArcelorMittal has withdrawn from its green steel projects in Germany. The company says its former goals are no longer feasible in the current market environment. Meanwhile, workers fear for their jobs...

www.dw.com

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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · Jul 1

"Of the 29 healthcare workers in our study, 14 say they could not make a living if on-demand nursing apps were their only source of income. Four workers earn so little that they qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. Two others, rather ironically given their profession, had no health insurance at all."

Katie J. Wells @katiejwells.bsky.social · Jun 30

In 2013, @timmaughan.bsky.social published a short story of dystopian fiction about Nicki, a 19-year-old zero-hour contract worker. Today, it reads as a plausible description of the working world of American nurses. My latest for @lpeproject.bsky.social. lpeproject.org/blog/nursing...

Nursing on Demand: The Gig Economy Comes for Health Care

New Uber-style firms like CareRev and Clipboard Health use algorithmic scheduling, staffing, and management technologies to match understaffed medical facilities with nearby nurses and nursing…

lpeproject.org

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · Jun 27

“Including labour law in any 28th regime would allow rich tech-bros to completely ignore the rights to fair pay and decent conditions which workers have won at national level over the last century" ⚠️

#28thRegime #deregulation

European Trade Unions @etuc-ces.bsky.social · Jun 27

🔴National leaders have given the go ahead to deregulation policies which risk undermining their own national labour law

The European Council 'welcomed' proposals which include a '28th regime' that would allow some companies to operate under lower EU-wide standards

www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

www.etuc.org

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Barbora Cernusakova @bcernusa.bsky.social · Jun 27

Next week at @isa-sociology.org Forum I'll talk about "The dynamics of racialised labour disciplining in East Central Europe". Together Angela Kóczé we discuss the tension between the anti-immigrant & racist narratives & the imperatives of the political economy/ labour shortages.
shorturl.at/9PPtV

New Dynamics of Racialised Labour Disciplining in Central and Eastern Europe

New dynamics of racialised labour disciplining in Central and Eastern Europe Ou...

shorturl.at

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