In my postdoctoral project, titled ‘Feminist decolonial analysis of the fourth industrial revolution discourses’, I analyse the neoliberal-gendered-colonial assumptions in the future of work narratives. By analysing how ‘future work’ and ‘future workers’ are produced through these discourses, I seek to uncover the exclusions that such narratives produce. The project involves analysing policies by various multilateral organizations and multinational consultancy comapnies as they are at the forefront of producing ‘expert knowledges’ on the future of work. The primary contribution of this project is to highlight the absences and exclusions that neoliberal-gendered-colonial regimes of power create within 4IR practices and policymaking. Accordingly, the project also involves thinking of alternative future of work imaginaries.
