Labour and the environmental critique of digital industries in Silicon Valley

The environmental critique of digital industries emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Based on an examination of archival collections and on interviews with the activists who initiated it, this article shows that the environmental critique of digital technologies stemmed from an effort to unionize the semi-conductor industry in Silicon Valley. Seeking to unionize chipmakers, union organizers and labour activists focused on the chemical hazards that female workers encountered in factories. When this campaign failed, they went on to denounce the pollution of the water table by the micro-electronics industry. As unions withdrew from Silicon Valley in the mid-1980s, the activists abandoned their goal of organizing electronics workers and focused instead on the fight against toxic substances. They monitored the clean-up of aquifers, worked to prevent industrial accidents, and fought against air pollution caused by the manufacture of computers and electronic components. These struggles had the paradoxical effect of facilitating the conversion of Silicon Valley to immaterial industries and fostering the emergence of web capitalism.