What are the rules that govern our workday? Who made them? And how do these rules dominate the rest of our lives?

In Control Science, Henry Snow examines how ideas of control perfected on the factory floor have expanded to dictate our personal lives, polit­ical rights, national policy, and the global economy. 

Seventeenth-century intellectuals such as William Petty and John Locke argued that human beings were selfish machines who had to be controlled for their own good. A century later, Jeremy and Samuel Bentham tried to do exactly that with their infamous Panopticon prison. Ex­tending these practices, billionaires today dream of extending the algorithmic control of Amazon ware­houses into every corner of our lives.

Snow will be joining the Verso Book Club Reading Group on May 24th, 2026 at 2pm EST / 7pm GMT to discuss how common sense about work, the economy, and human nature was fabricated, and must now be challenged.

You can join the Book Club for as little as $10 / £8 per month, with no commitment. Sign up now!

About the VBC Reading Group

As the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, we believe that a revolutionary pedagogy is vital to building a liberatory future. This new addition to the Verso Book Club moves beyond the initial reading of a book, asking readers to dig into the critical, though often messy, next stage of discussing, arguing, reflecting, and expanding upon the text.

Each month, we will meet over Zoom to hear from the authors themselves, or from a scholar, writer, or thinker who has had a key influence on the topic at hand. Guest speakers are not asked to lecture per se, but to be in conversation with their own reading of the text, highlighting key moments, explicating subtleties, and suggesting questions for further dialogue in advance of small group discussion. We also encourage members to self-organize either in person or virtual satellite meetups.

Join the Verso Book Club today!

[book-strip index="1" style="buy"]