The People Vs Tech

In this book, Jamie Bartlett argues that the unchecked growth of big tech is eroding the foundations of democracy.

He contends that the middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society are weakened, and citizens are losing their critical faculties and possibly their free will.

Bartlett identifies six key pillars of democracy—active citizens, shared democratic culture, free elections, stakeholder equality, competitive economy and civic freedom, and trust in authority—and explains how technology is undermining each of these.

He provides twenty practical suggestions for how to save democracy from the negative impacts of technology, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that does not reject technology entirely but ensures it serves democratic values.