Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism

Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why and how we must reclaim technology's potential for the public good.

"Lucid, probing and urgent. Wendy Liu manages to be both optimistic about the emancipatory potential of tech and scathing about the industry that has harnessed it for bleak and self-serving ends." – Naomi Klein, author of On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal

"An inspiring memoir manifesto…Technologists all over the world are realizing that no amount of code can substitute for political engagement. Liu's memoir is a road map for that journey of realization." – Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and Little Brother

Innovation. Meritocracy. The possibility of overnight success. What's not to love about Silicon Valley?

These days, it's hard to be unambiguously optimistic about the growth-at-all-costs ethos of the tech industry. Public opinion is souring in the wake of revelations about Cambridge Analytica, Theranos, and the workplace conditions of Amazon workers or Uber drivers. It's becoming clear that the tech industry's promised "innovation" is neither sustainable nor always desirable.