I am a Lecturer in Technology, Work and Employment at the University of Sussex, researching wage theft and technological change. I am also an Associate Fellow of the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit) and the Oxford Internet Institute, where I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the Fairwork Project for a number of years and was a fellow at St. Andrew’s College, Oxford.
I am on the editorial board of Work, Employment and Society, a flagship journal of the British Sociological Association and I review articles for several others. I have published in numerous academic journals, including Antipode and Work, Employment and Society. I also have written for popular audiences in Jacobin, Novara, Vice, Tribune, Open Democracy, The Independent, and Salvage.
My academic interests revolve around the political economy of work and technology, with a particular focus on wage theft, the politics of AI, and labour market policy. I am currently writing a book for Verso on the past present and future of unpaid labour.
I am originally from upstate New York, though have lived in London since 2010. I have been actively involved in the labour movement since 2005.
Matthew Cole 