Rhiannon Firth is Lecturer in Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. She is interested in anti-authoritarian organising within, against and beyond the crises of capitalism. Her research focuses on grassroots utopias, mutual aid and the pedagogical and prefigurative practices of radical social movements.John Preston is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.   He has pioneered an original stream of research in the sociology of disasters and existential threats.  His work also explores the sociology of education and, most recently, skills and AI.

• Chapter 1- Introdcution.- Chapter 2- The Utopian Promise of Cybernetics.- Chapter 3- The Dystopian Realities of Cybernetics.- Chapter 4- Industry 4.0 Utopias? Human potential and prefiguration in advanced cybernetic manufacturing.- Chapter 5- Co-operative Utopias in Automation.- Chapter 6- Hackspaces and Automation as Hobbying.- Chapter 7- Conclusion: De-naturalising cybernetics - against a dystopian future.

Rhiannon Firth is Lecturer in Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. She is interested in anti-authoritarian organising within, against and beyond the crises of capitalism. Her research focuses on grassroots utopias, mutual aid and the pedagogical and prefigurative practices of radical social movements.John Preston is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.   He has pioneered an original stream of research in the sociology of disasters and existential threats.  His work also explores the sociology of education and, most recently, skills and AI.

• Chapter 1- Introdcution.- Chapter 2- The Utopian Promise of Cybernetics.- Chapter 3- The Dystopian Realities of Cybernetics.- Chapter 4- Industry 4.0 Utopias? Human potential and prefiguration in advanced cybernetic manufacturing.- Chapter 5- Co-operative Utopias in Automation.- Chapter 6- Hackspaces and Automation as Hobbying.- Chapter 7- Conclusion: De-naturalising cybernetics - against a dystopian future.

Rhiannon Firth is Lecturer in Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. She is interested in anti-authoritarian organising within, against and beyond the crises of capitalism. Her research focuses on grassroots utopias, mutual aid and the pedagogical and prefigurative practices of radical social movements.John Preston is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.   He has pioneered an original stream of research in the sociology of disasters and existential threats.  His work also explores the sociology of education and, most recently, skills and AI.

• Chapter 1- Introdcution.- Chapter 2- The Utopian Promise of Cybernetics.- Chapter 3- The Dystopian Realities of Cybernetics.- Chapter 4- Industry 4.0 Utopias? Human potential and prefiguration in advanced cybernetic manufacturing.- Chapter 5- Co-operative Utopias in Automation.- Chapter 6- Hackspaces and Automation as Hobbying.- Chapter 7- Conclusion: De-naturalising cybernetics - against a dystopian future.