Silicon Valley, disruption, and the end of uncertainty

Abstract

This paper reflects on the relationship between hi-tech disruption narratives and uncertainty. My main argument is that an economic sociology of the future is incomplete without addressing the 'demonic' or rather eschatological elements apparent in the promissory twin rhetoric of disruption and inevitability that a number of contemporary technology firms employ. The conjuring up of liberatory hi-tech futures implicates a political-philosophical perspective of the end game. It utilizes at once the productive power of uncertainty to create visions of 'absolute riches' and societal gain but at the same time narrows these futures down to one inevitable alternative to the status quo. Through the examples of two Silicon Valley disruptor firms I argue that these eschatological narratives need to be opened to social scientific critique in order to examine their potential societal consequences above and beyond the narrow geographic confines of 'the Valley'. ; European Commission Horizon 2020 ; 2021-05-07 JG: PDF replaced at author's request