“A sophisticated, rage-inducing, rollercoaster of a read. The power and control tactics Bornstein exposes are at once shocking, and altogether unsurprising.” – Jess Hill, journalist and author of See What You Made Me Do?
Do you believe in freedom of speech? Do you believe you have it? What if exchanging your labour for pay meant also exchanging your democratic rights?
Award-winning employment and workplace lawyer Josh Bornstein reveals the T&Cs that strip employees of their freedom of speech and how major corporations are waging war on democracy.
Join us at Ryde Library as Josh is in conversation about his latest book Working with the brand: how corporations are destroying free speech. In this thought provoking book, Josh asks how our major corporations have come to exercise repressive control over the lives of their employees, and explores what can be done to repair the greatest threat to democracy — the out-of-control corporation.
Attendees on the night have a chance to win a signed copy. There will be on onsite bookseller for purchase of the book and Josh will be available for signing and questions.
Please note: This event has a 6.30pm arrival time for a 6.45pm event start time.
In association with Scribe Publications.
About the book
When you go to work, you agree to exchange your labour in exchange for your pay packet, right? Actually, you may not realise it, but you are also selling your rights to free speech and to participate in democracy. Welcome to corporate cancel culture, a burgeoning phenomenon that is routinely ignored in debates about free speech. If you work for a large company, it will not allow you to say or do anything that harms its brand — at or outside work. If you transgress and attract controversy — whether for cracking a joke, a Facebook like, or a political post on TikTok, you can be shamed, sacked, and blacklisted.
In the twenty-first century, major corporations have become the most powerful institution in the world — more powerful than many nations. That unchecked, anti-democratic power is reflected in the gaming of the political system, the weakening of governments, and the repressive control of the lives of employees. While their behaviour has deteriorated, corporations have invested heavily in ethically washed brands, claiming to be saving the planet and doing good. As Josh Bornstein argues, we would not tolerate a government that censored, controlled, and punished us in this way, so why do we meekly accept the growing authoritarianism of the companies that we work for?
About the Author
Josh Bornstein is an award-winning lawyer specialising in employment and labour-relations law who has successfully sued a lot of badly behaved corporations and acted for employees who were sacked for expressing political views. He is a board member of the progressive think tank The Australia Institute and of the advisory board of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne.