Writing work, technology, and pedagogy in the era of late capitalism

This article explores the relationship between how technologies are presented in professional and technical writing classes and the complicated dynamics of the late-capitalist working world. A growing body of scholarship emphasizes the necessity of including critical theory in well-rounded professional and technical writing curriculums. Some promote theory as a means of helping working writers make more ethically and socially conscious decisions concerning the technologies they help to produce and document. Others promote theory as essential for survival in an ever-evolving, sometimes very harsh, technology-driven marketplace. This article points to some of the weaknesses of both approaches, as it advocates an approach to pedagogy that explores how emerging technologies help to establish the terms of work in the contemporary economy. This pedagogy is intended to unflinchingly examine the more cynical aspects of late capitalism as it locates agency in collective action outside of managerialism and corporate frameworks.