Photo by Tavish Vaidya
Hey there! Thanks for checking out my site. A little bit about myself: I’m a writer, editor, and public sociologist.
My new book is called The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power and Resistance in the New Gilded Age. (You can order the book from Beacon.) I’m really excited about this book! Using the smartphone as a lens, I examine the cultural, political, and economic shifts reshaping American society since the birth of the smartphone in 2007. In particular, I interrogate the defining tension of digital life: the stark disconnect between the ordinary smartphone user seeking entertainment, connection, information, and justice, and the tech companies looking to profit from our every tap and swipe.
My first book is called The New Prophets of Capital (Verso 2015). In it I examine the pervasive feeling that capitalism is leading us in the wrong direction and argue that it’s time for ideas that challenge the core assumptions of our for-profit system. In New Prophets I cover a range of topics from feminism to green capitalism, to public education and therapy culture.
I write regularly on technology, labor, politics, feminism, the economy, and the environment. Check out the Articles page for links. Much of this writing appears in Jacobin magazine where I am currently an editor at large. I’m also the managing editor of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism where I work behind the scenes to support great local journalism.
I have a PhD in sociology from the Johns Hopkins University and taught for several years at Boston University. I wrote my dissertation on capital mobility in the automotive industry; here’s a piece that covers some of its themes. I’ve worked on a variety of other academic projects as well, like this article on accumulation by dispossession and development in southern Africa.
Even though I’m no longer working in an academic setting I still see the world, and write about it, through the lens of sociology. I love to examine the complex ways that people, institutions, and big systems, like capitalism, intersect to forge the society we live in. My writing and research is driven by a core belief that we can build a better world that puts people over profit.
You can reach me at nicoleaschoff@protonmail.com or on Twitter: @NicoleAschoff