"Conventional debates about new technology often invoke optimistic visions of enhanced democracy, rising skills and economic abundance; others predict darker scenarios such as the destruction of jobs through labour-eliminating devices. This book proposes an alternative perspective, arguing that technology can be powerful, but in and of itself has no independent causal powers. It considers the impact of new technologies on manufacturing, clerical, administrative and call centre employment, in both managerial and professional arenas, and introduces the growing phenomena of telework. The book also assesses the important political and economic forces that restrict or facilitate the flow of new technologies on national and global levels."--BOOK JACKET.