SocProf reviewed Data Driven by Karen Levy
A Sociology of Labor / Sociology of surveillance twofer
5 stars
This book is based on Karen Levy's research on the integration of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in trucks, supposedly to ensure better compliance with work hours rules and other regulations. Levy shows the actual impact of the devices (used mostly by large trucking companies initially, since then made mandatory by federal transportation authorities). This is where #sociology of #labor meets the #surveillance society. Levy explores the truckers' culture and ethos, based on rugged individualist values and not a small dose of machismo and how this culture conflates with increased surveillance, leading to various forms of deviance and ways to "hack" electronic surveillance. All the while, Levy explores the underlying structure of the trucking industry, its winners and losers, where exploitation is located and how the ELDs are positioned within the web of power relationships within this industry. This may all seem complicated (it is!) but Levy's writing is relatively jargon-free …
This book is based on Karen Levy's research on the integration of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in trucks, supposedly to ensure better compliance with work hours rules and other regulations. Levy shows the actual impact of the devices (used mostly by large trucking companies initially, since then made mandatory by federal transportation authorities). This is where #sociology of #labor meets the #surveillance society. Levy explores the truckers' culture and ethos, based on rugged individualist values and not a small dose of machismo and how this culture conflates with increased surveillance, leading to various forms of deviance and ways to "hack" electronic surveillance. All the while, Levy explores the underlying structure of the trucking industry, its winners and losers, where exploitation is located and how the ELDs are positioned within the web of power relationships within this industry. This may all seem complicated (it is!) but Levy's writing is relatively jargon-free and clear. This a is a book that is perfectly appropriate for undergraduates. I should note that there is a really good methodological appendix at the end.