JS Tan & Clarissa Redwine — Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World's Most Powerful Industry - with Dave Karpf — at the Wharf
JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine discuss the rise of tech-worker resistance and the backlash that followed as technology executives increasingly aligned with right-wing and authoritarian politics. Drawing on *Against Tech Oligarchy*, they trace worker organizing around military contracts, ICE, sexism, climate change, and unionization, along with the ways employers responded by firing organizers, suppressing dissent, and condemning “woke” workplace politics. Dave Karpf moderates the conversation.
The event places these struggles in the broader transformation of the technology industry: after Donald Trump’s 2016 election, workers and executives initially mobilized against his agenda, but many tech leaders later embraced Trumpism. The discussion examines the movement’s achievements and limitations and what its history may offer people challenging powerful right-wing billionaires in other industries.
When: Friday, October 9, 2026
Showtimes: 7:00pm
Tickets: Free
Seating: First come, first served.
Lineup: JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine, with Dave Karpf moderating.
JS Tan: Tan is a PhD student at MIT and former technology worker. His writing has appeared in *The New York Times*, *MIT Technology Review*, *Dissent*, *Jacobin*, *Foreign Policy*, *The Baffler*, and *The Guardian*, among other publications.
Clarissa Redwine: Redwine helped organize the Kickstarter union and cofounded the tech-organizing conference Circuit Breakers. Her organizing has been covered by *The New York Times*, the BBC, *The Guardian*, *The Verge*, and *TechCrunch*.
Moderator: Dave Karpf is an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. He is the author of *The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy*, and researches how the internet affects political associations, including both newer groups such as MoveOn and DailyKos and more traditional advocacy organizations.
Venue: Politics and Prose at The Wharf, 610 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024.
Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask about accessibility, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The organizers will try to accommodate requests made up to the event.
Related book: Copies of *Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World’s Most Powerful Industry* by JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine are listed as a $27.95 hardcover.