Wikipedia

Draft:Jamie Woodcock

Jamie Woodcock is a British author, researcher and political activist known for his research on work, namely in the gig economy, call centres and the video game industry. He is a founding editor of the journal Notes from Below[1] and a lecturer in Digital Humanities at King's College London[2]. His notable publications include Troublemaking: Why You Should Organize Your Workplace[3], Marx at the Arcade: Consoles, Controllers, and Class Struggle[4] and Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres[5].

Early life and education

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Woodcock was born and brought up in Oxford. He first became politically active in 2003 at school walking out in protest at the invasion of Iraq[6][7]. He went on to study for is BA and MSc at University of Manchester, where he took part in the student movement of 2010[8]. He completed his PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London[9].

Career

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Woodcock is on the editorial board of Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory[10]. He is on the editorial advisory board of New Technology, Work and Employment[11]. During his employment at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, he cofounded the Fairwork Foundation[12]. In 2024, he joint-won the The Sociological Review Journal Article of the Year Award[13].

Workers' inquiry

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Woodcock is a leading advocate for workers' inquiry, an approach to research that involves worker organising. His first book, Working the Phones, was based on his PhD project in which he worked in a call centre and conducted a 'workers' inquiry'[14]. He has conducted further inquiries with Deliveroo riders[15], casualised university staff[16] and video game workers[17]. He produced a video game inspired by workers' inquiry[18] and is a team member for the Game Worker Solidarity project[19].

Science Fiction

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In 2023, he edited a collect of essays providing social commentary on The Expanse TV show[20]. In 2024, he edited a collection of essay on the first season of Stars Wars Andor[21].

Political activism

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Woodcock was an active participant in the student movement of 2010[22]. In an interview he said during the movement he ‘didn’t go to a class for three months’ and 'all we did was activism. We would get up in the morning make leaflets, print them, prepared in time for students arriving at college. We would leaflet all day talking to people, then organise actions on campus. It was non-stop all the time.’[23]

Woodcock was a member of the National Executive Council of the National Union of Students between 2012 and 2013[24]. He was a vocal critic of the NUS's leadership[25].

In 2014, he was on the UCU anti-casualisation committee[26] and has been outspoken against the leadership of UCU[27][28][29]. He produces The University Worker, 'a rank-and-file bulletin produced by academic workers'[30]. In 2020, he was elected as the Branch Support Officer of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain[31]. Woodcock is a founding member of Organise Now!, a project inspired by the Emergency Workplace Organising Committee in the US[32].

Writings

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Books

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  • Hughes, L. and Woodcock, J. (2023) Troublemaking: Why You Should Organize Your Workplace. London: Verso
  • Woodcock, J. (2023) Employment: Key Ideas in Business and Management, Abingdon: Routledge
  • Bloom, P., Smolovic Jones, O., and Woodcock, J. (2021) Guerrilla Democracy: Mobile Organising and Leadership in the 21st Century. Bristol: Bristol University Press
  • Woodcock, J. (2021) The Fight Against Platform Capitalism: An Inquiry into the Global Struggles of the Gig Economy. London: University of Westminster Press
  • Woodcock, J. and Graham, M. (2019) The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge: Polity
  • Woodcock, J. (2019) Marx at the Arcade: Consoles, Controllers, and Class Struggle, Chicago: Haymarket Books
  • Woodcock, J. (2017) Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres, London: Pluto

Edited books

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  • Woodcock, J. (ed.) (2024) Andor Analysed, Part 1: The Roots of Rebellion in Star Wars. London: Red Futures
  • Woodcock, J. (ed.) (2023) The Expanse Expanded: A Special Issue of Red Futures. London: Red Futures
  • Moore, P. V. and Woodcock, J. (eds.) (2021) Augmented Exploitation: Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Work

Selected academic journal articles

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  • Woodcock, J. (2024) 'On Algorithmic Management', Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society, 4(3)
  • Woodcock, J. (2021) 'Towards a Digital Workerism: Workers’ Inquiry, Methods, and Technologies', Nanoethics, 15: 87-98.
  • Woodcock, J. (2020) 'Organizing in the Game Industry: the story of Game Workers Unite UK', New Labor Forum, 29(1): 50-57.
  • Woodcock, J. and Johnson, M. R. (2019) 'Live Streamers on Twitch.tv as Social Media Influencers: Chances and Challenges for Strategic Communication', International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4): 321-335.
  • Woodcock, J. and Johnson, M. R. (2018) ‘Gamification: What it is, and how to fight it’, The Sociological Review, 66(3): 542-558.
  • Woodcock, J. (2014) ‘The Workers’ Inquiry from Trotskyism to Operaismo: a political methodology for investigating the workplace’, Ephemera, 14(3): 493-513.

References

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  1. ^ "Interview with Jamie Woodcock and Sai Englert of Notes from Below". washingtonsocialist.mdcdsa.org. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  2. ^ London, King's College. "Jamie Woodcock". King's College London. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  3. ^ "Troublemaking". Verso. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  4. ^ Woodcock, Jamie. "Marx at the Arcade". haymarketbooks.org. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  5. ^ Woodcock, Jamie (2017). Alexander, Peter; Ness, Immanuel; Pringle, Tim; Tshoaedi, Malehoko (eds.). Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres. Pluto Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1h64kww. ISBN 978-0-7453-9908-9. JSTOR j.ctt1h64kww.
  6. ^ "The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe – book review". Counterfire. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  7. ^ The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe. Pluto Press. 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctvx077w4. ISBN 978-0-7453-4068-5. JSTOR j.ctvx077w4.
  8. ^ "Student Revolt". Pluto Press. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  9. ^ London, King's College. "Jamie Woodcock". King's College London. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  10. ^ "About Us". Historical Materialism. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  11. ^ New Technology, Work and Employment. "Editorial Board". Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  12. ^ Graham, Mark; Woodcock, Jamie (2018). "Towards a Fairer Platform Economy: Introducing the Fairwork Foundation". Alternate Routes. 29: 242–253. ISSN 0702-8865.
  13. ^ "The Sociological Review Journal Article of the Year Award for 2023 Jury names two outstanding papers and five Highly Commended titles from last year's journal issues". thesociologicalreview.org. 2024-11-14. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  14. ^ Woodcock, Jamie; Ness, Immanuel. "The call center as a site of control and resistance". ROAR Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  15. ^ Woodcock, Facility Waters, Jamie (2017-09-20). "Far From Seamless: a Workers' Inquiry at Deliveroo". Viewpoint Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "A workers' inquiry among academics: Hourly-paid teaching staff at Goldsmiths College, London". Notes From Below. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  17. ^ Woodcock, Jamie. "Marx at the Arcade". haymarketbooks.org. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  18. ^ "A Workers' Inquiry Game". Notes From Below. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  19. ^ "About the project". Game Worker Solidarity. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  20. ^ "Open Access writings about The Expanse". Academicalism. 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  21. ^ "Introducing Andor Analysed, Part 1: The Roots of Rebellion in Star Wars". Red Futures Mag. 2024-07-01. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  22. ^ Myers, Matt (2017). Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation. Pluto Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1vz4952. ISBN 978-0-7453-3734-0. JSTOR j.ctt1vz4952.
  23. ^ Myers, Matt (2017). Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation. Pluto Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1vz4952. ISBN 978-0-7453-3734-0. JSTOR j.ctt1vz4952.
  24. ^ "Governance of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)", Wikipedia, 2024-05-26, retrieved 2024-11-19
  25. ^ "Jamie Woodcock: The National Union of Students and the Left". The Oxford Left Review. 2013-02-24. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  26. ^ "SOAS fractional dispute: a moment of truth". Counterfire. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  27. ^ "'Blindsided' UCU members say pause in strike action 'unjustified'". Times Higher Education (THE). 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  28. ^ "Six points on the eve of the UCU strike". Notes From Below. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  29. ^ "A Post-Strike Proposal". Notes From Below. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  30. ^ "The making of The University Worker: a podcast on rank-and-file bulletins and the USS dispute". Notes From Below. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  31. ^ Morrissey, Catherine (2020-11-13). "Election results and news from the AGM / Resultados de las elecciones y noticias de la Asamblea General". Independent Workers Union of Great Britain - Universities of London Branch. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  32. ^ Woolley, Poole, Fowler and Woodcock (2022-09-22). "Announcing the launch of Organise Now!". Morning Star. Retrieved 2024-11-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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