Connectivity and human Capacity in digital transformation: The exploratory hypothesis of the Hyper-indutrial

The present contribution interprets current digital transformations of work and related power dynamics through the lens of Alquati's concept of hyperindustrial society. The paper starts from a reelaboration of Alquati's thought, mainly on the basis of the rereading of some unpublished writings dating back to the 1990s and 2000s. In particular, it takes up the categories of (a) hyperindustrialisation, (b) enhancement versus impoverishment of human capacity, and (c) machinic subjectivity, and reconsiders them in light of current technological developments. These categories are then used as tools for analyzing three work contexts in which processes of digitization appear to be particularly intense: manufacturing, banking, and work in digital distribution platforms.