Abolish Silicon Valley

How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism

244 pages

English language

Published Jan. 5, 2020 by Watkins Media Limited.

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4 stars (6 reviews)

Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why and how we must reclaim technology's potential for the public good.

Innovation. Meritocracy. The possibility of overnight success. What's not to love about Silicon Valley?

These days, it's hard to be unambiguously optimistic about the growth-at-all-costs ethos of the tech industry. Public opinion is souring in the wake of revelations about Cambridge Analytica, Theranos, and the workplace conditions of Amazon warehouse workers or Uber. We're starting to see the cracks in the edifice, as we realise that the wealth that the tech industry is so good at creating is neither sustainable nor always desirable.

Abolish Silicon Valley is both a heartfelt personal story about the wasteful inequality and unsubstantiated lies of Silicon Valley, and a rallying call to engage in the radical politics needed to upend the status quo. Going …

1 edition

Review of 'Abolish Silicon Valley' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Part biography, part guide, all engrossing

As someone in tech - except I've been adjacency to the start-up world, having worked most recently for two successful ex-startup -- I've been skeptical of the start-up hype for a while, and also of the excesses of monopolistic tech platforms, but the author weaved the two together with a powerful critique of capitalism.

My only regret is the latter chapters seem to finish so abruptly, without much exploration of existing non-profit tech companies - but overall a thoroughly enjoyable read.

As stated in the book, if you're still drinking the Kool-Aid this might not be the book for you. If you're harboring doubts, it might help you tie the pieces together.

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