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A review by scribepub
What's Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy by Tom Slee
Building upon his previous empirical critiques, Tom Slee explains how ‘sharing economy’ companies have used feel-good rhetoric to mask illiberal and irresponsible business models.
Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Faculty Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
The Sharing Economy frames its critics as Luddites, bureaucrats and rent-seekers, but Tom Slee is none of these. A thoughtful technologist, Slee paints a well-researched picture of companies that have built up massive market valuations by externalising their costs and sidestepping regulations designed to protect consumers. This book is clear-eyed and important.
Sue Gardner, Former Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation
Superbly argued … Slee points out, rightly, that his arguments are not about whether he or his readers actually use these services … there is no contradiction in taking an Uber home from a party while wishing the company were better behaved. Only the law can force it to be so.
Steven Poole, The Guardian
Tom Slee’s essential new book shows that the sharing economy has very little to do with sharing. Slee uses wit, clarity, and facts to demolish the self-serving mythologies of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and figure out what Uber, Amazon and their kind are really up to.
Henry Farrell, Co-Chair, Social Science Research Council’s Digital Culture Initiative; Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University.
A smart and searing critique of a business that people are only just beginning to think about in a serious way.
The Spectator
Lucid and rigorous … Slee dismantles the facade of the sharing economy, revealing hidden and often troubling truths ... If you want to understand how internet businesses really operate, What’s Yours Is Mine is the place to start.
Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows
Laser-sharp insights about the real impact of popular start-ups on our livelihoods and communities … Required reading for anyone interested in technology and economic justice.
Astra Taylor, Author of The People's Platform
Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Faculty Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
The Sharing Economy frames its critics as Luddites, bureaucrats and rent-seekers, but Tom Slee is none of these. A thoughtful technologist, Slee paints a well-researched picture of companies that have built up massive market valuations by externalising their costs and sidestepping regulations designed to protect consumers. This book is clear-eyed and important.
Sue Gardner, Former Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation
Superbly argued … Slee points out, rightly, that his arguments are not about whether he or his readers actually use these services … there is no contradiction in taking an Uber home from a party while wishing the company were better behaved. Only the law can force it to be so.
Steven Poole, The Guardian
Tom Slee’s essential new book shows that the sharing economy has very little to do with sharing. Slee uses wit, clarity, and facts to demolish the self-serving mythologies of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and figure out what Uber, Amazon and their kind are really up to.
Henry Farrell, Co-Chair, Social Science Research Council’s Digital Culture Initiative; Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University.
A smart and searing critique of a business that people are only just beginning to think about in a serious way.
The Spectator
Lucid and rigorous … Slee dismantles the facade of the sharing economy, revealing hidden and often troubling truths ... If you want to understand how internet businesses really operate, What’s Yours Is Mine is the place to start.
Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows
Laser-sharp insights about the real impact of popular start-ups on our livelihoods and communities … Required reading for anyone interested in technology and economic justice.
Astra Taylor, Author of The People's Platform