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'INFORMATION SOCIETY' AS THEORY OR IDEOLOGY
Abstract
This paper argues that the concept of Information Society fails as theory because it is internally incoherent and unsupported by evidence. Its current popularity within policy discourse can only be understood ideologically. In particular it is argued that one of the drivers of current policy towards higher education is based upon the supposed growth of knowledge work linked to a theory of human capital formation as crucial to international competitiveness and to an explanation of unemployment in terms of a skills gap. The paper goes on to argue that current labour market indicators and research into the skills gap do not support this policy thrust and that a better explanation of the current push towards the creation of virtual universities is the desire to cut educational labour costs rather than to upgrade the economic status of so-called knowledge workers.
... Rather, we want to critically assess the ways in which the networked society construct has taken on a life of its own that functions as a catch phrase and buzzword also in PSM research. Critics of Castells' ideas typi- cally focus on his analysis of the role of information in contemporary society and assumptions about governing dynamics in relations between labour and capitalism in the 'information age' (see Garnham 2004;Weber 2004). We focus on a critique of the notion in connection with the position of PSM in contemporary media systems. ...
... In fact, online media hubs and nodes have not replaced the media structures and markets of the mass media anywhere, nor done as much as often presumed to upend broadcasting structure. Garnham (2004) understands the network society as a further development of (late) industrial society rather than a radically new society. Castells made that point, too, although it has been neglected. ...
... A third problem with the networked society notion is the tendency for technological determinism, which suggests technology autonomously causes consequential things to happen to society -often to a degree that is overly optimistic or pessimistic with presumed impacts that affect humankind as a whole. As noted by Webster (2004) and Garnham (2004), this remains a persistent strand of discourse in academic research and policy work related to media and ICT (see Servaes 2014). In treating the transition from PSB to PSM, academic discourse has been rife with technological determinist arguments both for and against (Van den Bulck 2008; Donders 2012). ...
The question about the future of public service media in the ‘networked society’ is directly related to the modernisation of European democracies and the role of citizen participation. In the context of a severe economic crisis, declining trust in public institutions and eroding citizen confidence in democratic structures, multilevel governance is an EU initiative for modernising democratic practices. Amone the core principles are: co-operation, prioritising network structures, decentralisation, complementarity between public and private sectors, and facilitating civic participation. This chapter exposes the connection between the historic mission of public service broadcasting (collected in five areas or ‘blocks’), the contemporary obligations of public service media in a ‘networked society’, and the objectives of multilevel governance.
Keywords: European Union, media governance, public service broadcasting, media roles and functions, RTVE, Spain’s regions
... Our analysis indicates that the content of the network economy as advocated by Castells is nothing more than a rephrasing of the term information economy or knowledge economy as his assertion has been made before by Bell, Porat, Rubin, Nonaka and Takeuchi, among others. This is nothing more than technological determinism (see Webster, 2002aWebster, , b, 2004Garnham, 2004a). Thus, in our view, networks and the network society are nothing new. ...
Despite nearly fifty-eight years since the term knowledge economy first appears, we are getting nearer in understanding this new kind of economy. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the meaning of the knowledge economy by conducting a critical review of the precursors of the knowledge economy and their major critiques so as to identify the current research implications. We aim to identify common ground in advancing the research of the knowledge economy. In essence, our understanding of the knowledge economy is viewed from a ‘new’ social-economic-theoretical perspective in which the theoretical foundation focuses on the explosion of technology that motivates people to be innovative and possess knowledge in producing knowledge products or be so engrossed with sociability using technology at home. Our finding is that the notion of the knowledge economy must be viewed from some phenomena that have transformed the contemporary economy. Other major findings include the following: (1) we use the term knowledge economy instead of the multiplicity of terms to describe this new form of economy; (2) we articulate that the theoretical foundation of the knowledge economy is a branch of social economy where the economy is not based solely on production and consumption but is based more on social values, technology, knowledge and innovation to commercialize knowledge products; and (3) the statistical assessment methodology is delivered through the use of indicators to proxy for the four knowledge economy criteria that makes up the knowledge economy. This has the following implications for economic management, knowledge-induced innovation, computerization of the economy, and knowledge management in the new economy.
... In contrast, some theorists hold Castells's position to be techno-determinist and structuralist (Garnham, 2004). Meanwhile, others agree that transformations to social organization are taking place through the use of Internet-based technologies and personal media but reject the a priori assumption that technology is central to it. ...
Mobile media are changing everyday social practices, including modes of travel and the way social networks are developed, sustained, and transformed. This chapter presents findings from an explorative study of urban travelers in Oslo, drawing on structuration theory and social practice theory. Findings show that travel routines are becoming increasingly entangled with the use of personal and social media in everyday life. Many young travelers have social relationships that are embedded in an “omnipresent” stream of mediated communication, changing the content and experience of being on the move. Communication practices appear to be moving towards a real-time mode, where mundane pictures of objects encountered in the flux of everyday life, spontaneous reflections, discussion, and web stories are continually produced and circulated as part of the maintenance of social networks. Partly, this seems to be founded on social norms and expectations for a high frequency of communication within networks of close friends. However, personal and social media also actively influence how people plan and coordinate various social gatherings, as well as on the meanings given to them afterwards.
... But when it has been acknowledged we have usually been presented with one of the following two options. The most common response taken by Marxian scholars has been that of 'ideologiekritik': all talk of networks is deemed ideological and a return to the analysis of class and exploitation is called for (Garnham 2004;Callinicos 2006). Alternatively, following Boltanski and Chiapello's (2005) lead, we can largely accept the network discourse and attempt to generate a new theory of exploitation more suitable for our "connexionist" world. ...
The ‘network metaphor’ impoverishes our understanding of power. Its binary logic of inclusion/exclusion leaves it blind to relations of exploitation. However, instead of ideological critique – the standard Marxist approach - this paper reconstructs Marx’s theory of exploitation from a common “process-relational ontology” that is shared by both network theorists and Marx. From this shared ontology it becomes possible to demonstrate how Marx’s materialization of process through ‘production’ and his understanding of relations as ‘internal’ and ‘contradictory’ lead him not into an inclusion/exclusion cul-de-sac but rather to a critique of exploitation writ large. This paper concludes by briefly demonstrating how the theory of exploitation that emerges from Marx’s process-relational ontology is ideally suited to understanding and critiquing the intensification and extensification of exploitation under informational capitalism.
... These new demands of an ICT-based society are also triggering changes within traditional universities [15]. To the question of how to graft a more flexible, eLearning model on the structure of face-to-face educational institutions, ESADE has given a quality answer by creating the Direction of Educational Innovation and Academic Quality (DIPQA), whose main task is to design, develop and implement a quality bLearning model. ...
Today eLearning means more than learning content and courseware, and goes far beyond the Learning Management Systems (LMS), Personal Learning Environment (PLE), administration tools and authoring tools for building courses. Nowadays, the current challenges of eLearning are related to the lack of face-to-face interaction, the lack of sophistication in terms of Computer-Based Assessment and the challenge of developing engaging and stimulating online lessons. For students who shifted from a paper-based culture with handwriting, highlighting, post-it and gap-filling to a screen-based culture, with e-mails, blogging, gaming and webcams, streaming and googling are but a few of the solutions that would tailor eLearning for the 21st century skills and curriculum. Institutions have already challenged themselves unto meeting the new millennial students’ needs by providing courses which foster not only life and career skills, but also learning and innovation ones, in corporate training and formal education environments alike, focused on professional development and encompassed by clear standards, as well as assessment and curriculum issues. The present paper will showcase the actions taken with respect to all these aspects, both in Romania, by a team within “Carol I” National Defense University, and in Spain, by a team from ESADE Law and Business School. The first team will lay stress on the foreign language education-related organizational and pedagogical changes meant to support blended and eLearning strategies and management, whereas the second one will refer to management and law education; the main objective of the paper is to share the lessons learned, by highlighting both common aspects in terms of educational and methodological approach, and differences in terms of cultural response and attitudes of those benefiting from the eLearning type of education, irrespective of the way the latter is delivered, i.e., be it on-line or blended.
... Smith, 1998;Olivier de Sardan, 2005N. Klein, 2007, Easterly, 2007, b) cultural imperialism ( Salwen, 1991;Tomlinson, 1991;Lechner, F. & Boli, J., 2009), and c) concept of information society (Bell, 1976;Drucker, 1969;Webster, 2002;Barney, 2003;Garnham, 2004). In addition, media globalization is viewed through the prism of development (at least virtual) of collective system of diff erent opinions, and notion of events about which interest groups, through the media imagination, try to control and discipline the citizens, and infl uence their opinion. ...
This paper descriptively analyzes only one important segment of the globalization process, which concerns interdependent relationship between the economy and the media. It critically and selectively illuminate the economic eff ects of media globalization through the prism of consequent negative externalities of five types of dual relations: global and local, supranational and national, public and private, real and virtual, media and meta-media. It starts from two hypotheses: 1) that the polarity of those relations is caused through and by the influence of concentration of the corporate media, or convergent interests of the media, politics and business; and 2), that there is a priority of economic impulses and motives of a big capital in relation to the conglomerate of all other interests-political, social, cultural, media and others. In conclusion, it ascertains the verification of these hypotheses.
... La hipótesis de partida es que, aunque los términos tecnológicos hagan referencia a herramientas electrónicas e informáticas y se relacionen frecuentemente con cuestiones de mercadotecnia, el estudio de este vocabulario es valioso para comprender los cambios sociales que estamos viviendo. Una transformación de la magnitud de la vivida en el paso a la denominada " Sociedad de la información " (Garnham, 2004) o " Sociedad en Red " (Castells, 2007 Drotner ha denominado " pánico mediático " , una actitud contraria a los nuevos medios cuando " los ordenadores en general, los juegos y el Internet en particular sirven como metáforas mentales para discutir preocupaciones sociales mayores " (Drotner, 1999). Según esta investigadora, las nuevas tecnologías se demonizan al situarlas como (co)responsables de los males de nuestra sociedad, como pueden ser la violencia o el individualismo. ...
Este trabajo investiga la relevancia del significado de los neologismos de las nuevas tecnologías de la información (TIC) para comprender cómo nos relacionamos con ellas y de qué manera afectan a las interacciones interpersonales. Tomo como ejemplos palabras preexistentes en español y que se han adoptado con valor metafórico y variando su significado. Propongo un análisis de los marcos semánticos que se producen mediante este proceso para mostrar cómo esta reutilización de términos, en principio facilitadora del manejo de las tecnologías, puede dificultar la comprensión real de los procesos que hay detrás de la comunicación digital así como provocar comportamientos que no sean coherentes con estos.
... The configuration of the media which allows for the retention of individuality fosters the inclination of few young people to engage in deviant behaviours so listed. Advocates of the new digital generation Castell et al. [63][64][65], earlier viewed digital media as force of liberation for young generation a means of cutting away from inhibitive traditions and the harbinger of new autonomous forms of communication and virtual community. Livingstone argues that there appears to be a promising match between the style of deliberation afforded by Jones [66], the Internet and that preferred that population segment of young people. ...
Scientifically, nations of the world are benefiting and will continue to appropriate the opportunities that computer cum Internet revolution offer; since this had occasioned the flatness in access to both information and products that seemed hitherto impossible. However, despite the advantages attributable to technological breakthroughs in the field of science, the global community is yet to recover from the manifest functions closely knitted with major unfolding scenario and part of which is located in e-crime and other deviant behaviors affecting e-relationship. Consequently, this paper attempts the evaluation of the negative impact of the Internet technology from the context of crime mostly emanating from the young people. It also establishes a linkage between scientific and crimogenic breakthroughs in the global community and finally presents an advocacy for a more safe science that is capable of minimizing and monitoring the effect of its uses.
... This involves a development in western capitalist societies from an industrial society organized according to the principles and logics of scientific management N o v a S c i e n c e P u b l i s h e r s , I n c . (Taylor, 1911) to a complex and globalized information society based on knowledge and experience economy (Garnham, 2004;Pine and Gilmore, 1999) with an increasing degree of immaterial labour. This change is often captured by labels like "postmodernism" (Lyotard, 1984), "post-Fordism", "liquid modernity" (Baumann, 2000), or "network society" (Castells, 2000). ...
While organizations have become central for thinking and structuring contemporary social action, existing perspectives on what they are and how to deal with them are still rooted in modern ideas about the foundations of society. The chapters in this volume take critical narrative inquiry — inspired by postmodern or post-human approaches to organizations — as a broad range of research and development strategies that challenge the dominant perspectives prevalent in the organizational literature. The purpose of the volume is three-fold. Firstly, a critical reading of organizations foregrounding notions of power and ethics is presented. Secondly, a new framework for understanding and analyzing organizational action based on critical notions of storytelling and sustainability is unfolded. Thirdly, the framework is deployed through innovative concepts and learning methodologies for leadership, organizational, or community development. The authors engage in philosophical and theoretical reflections on the ways contemporary organizations work. They also present and analyze case studies of power, storytelling and learning in organizations. As a whole the book provides examples of what can be done to make organizations work in more appropriate ways in the future. (Imprint: Nova)
... For neoliberal strategies, the real task is not to enhance skills but rather to control labour costs in the labour-intensive service sector, e.g. education (Garnham 2000). ...
... ISSN 2329-9150 2015, Vol. 2, No. 1 use. There are also intrinsic constraints shaped by social interests of those who control its production and circulation which limit its functionality (Garnham, 2000). The approximate definition of media can be grasped through stating some of their characteristics. ...
Gender related identity formation of women has been influenced by numerous parameters in recent years. The status of women in Iran today is not comparable to that in the past. Significant changes have occurred as communities and households respond to social and economic shifts associated with globalization, new technologies and environmental pressures. What is obvious is that, along with the globalization and current social and intellectual upheavals, society and women both have adopted a more transitory and unbalanced attitude towards women’s gender identity. Of the most remarkable factors impacting on this shift in attitude has been the role of mass media, modern media such as the internet in particular.
Meanwhile among the different views of identity, there is often a shared assumption that the ways in which identity is defined and hence what counts as identity are undergoing far-reaching changes in the contemporary world. This is certainly debatable, but it does imply that one place to look for evidence of change would be women, and perhaps specifically their relation with new technologies. Therefore, I intend to raise some broad points about how we understand digital technology, women and their relationship.
This paper first explores theoretical perspectives on cyberfeminism within the definition of identity and its relation with gender. Then the formation of female identity and its elements in regard with media will be contemplated. The most essential aim is investigating women’s gender identity and its relevance to media, modern media such as the internet in particular. For this study I examine women’s representation in media particularly the internet with a focus on stealthy freedom campaign which allow me to show how Iranian women are shaping their identity quit apart from the pressure of a male dominated society that will provide further insight into this unresolved question.
The study of the impact of media on women’s identity and an analysis of the due changes together with suggesting strategies to navigate towards this impact will be other serious concerns.
... There were theoretical investigations in the following scientific directions: -Information Society (Aristovnik, 2014;Eryomin, 1998;Fuchs, 2008;Garnham, 2004;Harvey, 2010;KarnÓtis, 2004;Katane, Kristovska & Katans, 2013;Katane, Kristovska & Katans, 2014;Katans, 2013;Paavola & Hakkarainen, 2005;Webster, 2002;Webster, 2004 etc.); -Sustainable Development (Breidlid, 2004;Grabovska, 2006;Katane, 2007;Mebratu, 1998;Miller, 2007;Omann & Spangenberg, 2002;SalÓte, 2006;SalÓte et al, 2005;SalÓte et al, 2010;Salite & Pipere, 2006;Sterling, 2002;Witthaus et al, 2010 etc.). In order to ensure own and whole societyís sustainable development the modern enterprise has to become a knowledge organization. ...
The process of globalization and the changeability of environment nowadays demand that society ensure sustainability for itself and its lifewide environment. Therefore nowadays the paradigm of personality’s and specialist’s competitiveness is changing. The old paradigm is substituted by a set of new viewpoints and concepts. The issue of ensuring the environment fostering the development of specialists competitiveness in the modern enterprise becomes even more important. Research in this sphere had three stages: 1) development of theoretically-methodological base for specialists’ competitiveness research; 2) diagnostics and evaluation of the specialists’ competitiveness in modern insurance enterprise (experimental approbation of the competitiveness research methodology); 3) development, evaluation, improvement of “
... Likewise, notions of the 'information society' and the 'knowledge economy' -which are often used to justify the growing use of information technology in schools -involve some highly debatable assumptions about the changing nature of employment, and about the skills that workers will need in order to function effectively in the new economic and technological order. More broadly, the claim that the 'information society' represents a new mode of social organisation, in which established forms of economic, political and social activity are being fundamentally altered -and the assumption that this change is somehow an inevitable consequence of technology -has been widely challenged 35 . ...
... Information and communication technology and digital networks play a prominent role in shaping and changing everyday life and work (see Baudrillard, 1983; Bell, 1973; Castells, 1996; Poster, 1990). The other thinkers who have also contributed to this debate do not deny the significance of information technologies, but their examinations of the information age identify the persistence of established social systems and practices, particularly regarding information/knowledge workers (Braverman, 1974; Garnham, 2004; Harvey, 1990; McKercher & Mosco, 2007; Mosco & McKercher, 2006). The noteworthy research of Castells, an endorser of the information age, identifies the change as one to a " network society. ...
As the Canadian government shifted to a neo-liberal policy regime, social service delivery was “contracted out” to community organizations such as the Riverview Centre. The outsourcing objectives were to keep delivery costs low and to build in efficiencies by relying on new technological systems. This paper shows the problems arising from the Riverview Centre’s inadequate technology system when interfacing with advanced government networks to report on employment services provided to clients. These advanced networks centralized control of social-service labour through digital Taylorization practices. Electronic reporting tasks have been standardized and routinized such that labour processes are shaped by the digital technology systems. The delivery of employment services conceals the dual aspect of the commodification of the social workers’ labour through contract employment and technological means.
... Algunos teóricos critican la visión de Castells al considerarla tecnodeterminística (Garnham, 2004). Estas acusaciones son exageradas, por una parte, porque Castells señala que su enfoque se basa en una visión dialéctica de la tecnología y la sociedad, donde la tecnología encarna a la sociedad y la sociedad utiliza la tecnología (Castells, 2000). ...
El propósito del artículo es discutir los aspectos micro y macro de los cambios económicos relacionados con las tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC). Se discuten conceptos clave para entender la sociedad contemporánea, y se introduce la noción de capitalismo informacional/de redes transnacional. Enseguida se hace un esbozo de las causas de los cambios sociales contemporáneos y se discuten algunos aspectos importantes de la acumulación de capital que se realiza mediante los productos y las TIC. Se concluye con los conceptos que describen la nueva relación entre capitalismo y TIC.
... Castells's argument suggests that partriarchalism is experiencing "symptoms of crisis" brought about by "the undermining of the patriarchal family" in conditions determined by informational capitalism and the rise of what he calls "cultural social movements," such as gay rights (301). There are diverse criticisms of Castells that address his use of New Social Movement Theory, his underestimation of labour movements, his emphasis on the family as primary instrument of patriarchy, as well as his notion of the information society itself (Waterman 1998;Garnham 2004). While Castells concedes that "around the world, patriarchalism is still alive and well," his argument remains overstated. ...
This paper identifies concurrent trends in the forms of representation found in contemporary pornography,andinthekindsofideologyproducedbytheraphy, and in the kinds of ideology produced by the biomedical industry, specifically in relation to the form and function of the penis. The rise of Viagra culture has been described as the second sexual revolution and promises the availability of phallic embodiment for all men. In recent years, with the rise of gonzo genres and independent modes of production and distribution, hard core pornography increasingly offers an industrialized understanding of sexual bodies, and a narrative of sexual acts no longer determined by Kinseyian logic, where detumescence doesn’t exist and penises are always hard, and always large. This paper argues that the logic informing sexual biosciences is pornographic rather than medical, and that the logic informing the pornographic penis is economic rather than libidinal. The paper concludes with an attempt to map a contemporary biopolitics of the penis.
... Even if information network (Castells, 2000), or postindustrial society (Bell, 1973) is denied by some as a theoretical framework (Garnham, 2004;Bolano, 2000, Robins & Webster, 2004, the fact that new technologies of information and communication can increase the gap between rich and poor is undeniable. We should refer to this gap, as the digital divide or in the Brazilian contextinclusão digital. ...
Construído a partir de uma metodologia desenvolvida a apresentada em publicação de Straubhaar, Ferreira e Spence (2006), este artigo apresenta uma análise introdutória de tendências de utilização da base de dados do Programa Acessa SP. O Acessa SP é uma iniciativa do governo de São Paulo de inclusão digital que desde 2001 tem oferecido acesso gratuíto a internet e a serviços do governo viae-mail através de associações locais, associações comunitárias, organizações governamentais e governança local. A pesquisa Ponline é um estudo anual aplicado on line em todos os 392 telecentros participantes do programa que mapeia e realiza o perfil das atitudes e hábitos dos usuários em relação as novas tecnologias e suas comunidades de origem. Este artigo propicia uma estrutura para a classificação dos telecentros operados pelo Programa Acessa SP utilizando um extenso banco de dados coletado através da Ponline (apresentado para o governo de São Paulo em novembro de 2006). Baseada em trabalhos anteriores este artigo irá permitir uma análise comparativa entre os telecentros da Acessa SP e projetos nacionais e internacionais similares, assim como ser concebido como uma base de dados complementar.
... His focus is on the use of information in social development, rather than postulating the specific boundaries and conceptual changes of post-industrialism (he avoids talk of a pre-information age which the information age has ended). Such concessions are not enough for some commentators who resist all definitions of an information age (e.g., [372]) as attempting to place too much emphasis on one type of social change and ignoring other trends, while Castells' individual view has also been criticised in a number of quarters [130]. For our purposes, we do not need to take a position on this dispute within social science -all we need note from the Web Science perspective is that there are many thinkers who are prepared to conduct the sociology of information and information use [373], which is clearly a relevant discipline. ...
In this monograph we consider the development of Web Science since the launch of this journal and its inaugural publication ‘A Framework for Web Science’ [44]. The theme of emergence is discussed as the characteristic phenomenon of Web-scale applications, where many unrelated micro-level actions and decisions, uninformed by knowledge about the macro-level, still produce noticeable and coherent effects at the scale of the Web. A model of emergence is mapped onto the multitheoretical multilevel (MTML) model of communication networks explained in [252]. Four specific types of theoretical problem are outlined. First, there is the need to explain local action. Second, the global patterns that form when local actions are repeated at scale have to be detected and understood. Third, those patterns feed back into the local, with intricate and often fleeting causal connections to be traced. Finally, as Web Science is an engineering discipline, issues of control of this feedback must be addressed. The idea of a social machine is introduced, where networked interactions at scale can help to achieve goals for people and social groups in civic society; an important aim of Web Science is to understand how such networks can operate, and how they can control the effects they produce on their own environment.
The article addresses a dialectical relationship between the production and realisation of news content, linking demands for increased newspaper productivity with forces of consumption. The economic performance of newspapers is evaluated by exploring the correlation between alterations in their revenues/market expansion on one side, and changes in productivity and employment on the other. The research serves as an illustrative analysis within the context of a smaller EU country-Slovenia. The methodology employed could potentially be applied for crosscountry or EU-wide comparative analyses. The examination of economic newspaper performance is juxtaposed with the entire media sector (the competitive sector) and the advertising sector (the realm of business partners). The results underscore that economically sustainable news production is achieved through decreasing employment and intensifying the exploitation of newspaper workers, an aspect that is increasing annually in Slovenia, and surpassing the decline in revenues and profit.
As the information society evolves, new classes emerge, and among them is the cognitariat – the producing class responsible for creating information products and communication networks. Employing an information communication method, the article provides a socio-philosophical analysis of key values within the cognitariat, emphasizing creative work and the imperative of societal demand. Glocal peculiarities of the cognitariat in Russia are highlighted. Originating in the 1960s–1980s, unlike in capitalist countries, the Russian cognitariat did not emerge from workers in the service sector engaged in immaterial labor but rather from “working intellectuals”. Alongside with the “technical” and “creative intellectuals”, they successfully overcome the dramatic consequences of the 1990s, securing a leading position in the middle strata of society and shaping its development trends in the 21st century. The optimistic outlook for the development of the Russian cognitariat is rooted in the study of the cognitariat of Generation Z (centennials) – the first generation of the new information/digital society. Recognizing the need of adapting public space to the values of these new generations, it is concluded that the cognitariat is turning into an important productive force. Consequently, the overall societal development largely depends on creating favorable conditions for this social group and fostering its harmonious interaction with other classes. In addition, this approach facilitates the effective utilization of the cognitariat’s creative potential for national development. This conclusion holds practical significance and should be taken into account in the formulation of strategic plans at local and regional levels.
The research is aimed at studying the first generation born and raised in developing digital society – the generation Z. This age cohort is considered according to the class factor of the generation, with the social group of cognitariate highlighted. Cognitariate is a specific group of information product creators from the middle class. It determines their leading role in the development of the digital society. The purpose of the research is to identify characteristic features of cognitarian centennials. The subject is the specificity of the Russian cognitariate among generation Z representatives. Using communicational approaches, the author has identified traits of centennials based on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies. Among them are pragmatism, aspiration to creative work, high incomes and entrepreneurial activity. Generation Z representatives from the cognitariate have a tendency towards personal responsibility, self-actualization. Despite being pragmatic, they show deep understanding of complicated ethical topics. There are also negative qualities associated with the digital environment and natural to the generation Z in general. It is noted that the aspirations of the Russian cognitariate are constructive. One of their main goals is the development of society. This study has an applied value in educational field, in adaptation of educational programs to improve the students’ efficiency, in adaptation of young specialists in enterprises and in strengthening of intergenerational bonds.
This Critical Discourse Moment (CDM) traces some of the most important conceptual uses of transparency during the middle of the twentieth century. By taking advantage of the epistemic crises of post-positivism, the demands of counter-cultural movements, and the aesthetics of postmodernism, neoliberal discourses offered a powerful alternative to earlier forms of communist transparency—a spontaneously emerging order instead of collective regulation, individual liberty instead of social equality, and a dispersed network of market mediation instead of traditional institutional hierarchies. Attempts to legitimise such an alternative were able to intensify certain incipient shifts in the meaning of transparency. While some uses of transparency sought to challenge claims to universal truth, others sought to legitimise their epistemic positions through self-awareness and “style”. In this process, earlier modernist appeals to absolute clarity and total immediacy gave way to ambiguous formulations that produced selective combinations of visibility and opacity. The 1960s witnessed an intensification of previous ideological discourses and the rise of new technical means, some which were combined to produce broader discursive trends with significant and long-lasting cultural implications. As uses of transparency began to fully exploit the term’s conceptual ambiguity, transparency became a crucial strategic device with the power to give cohesion and legitimation to internally variegated and sometimes highly contrasting discourses. Transparency became increasingly associated to the idea of accessing information, existing social boundaries were challenged, and new oscillations emerged between the spheres of publicity and privacy. Through its dual conceptual core and broad semantic scope, transparency would both accommodate the desires of counter-cultural movements and the discourses of free market apologists, marking a new stage in the rise of the neoliberal mindscape.
Inequalities are pervasive in social life and seem to be the main reasons for po�larization. As Østby (2008, p. 143) points out, “[r]obust results from panel and cross-section analyses show that social polarization and horizontal social inequal�ity are positively related to conflict outbreak”. Understanding their dynamics is therefore a central task for the social sciences.
Inequality and polarization are at the heart of the most pressing concerns in con�temporary economics and politics. Inequality in particular is an issue today that
political parties in all parts of the ideological spectrum cannot dismiss. This is
partly due to the work of authors such as Anthony Atkinson, Branko Milanovic,
Thomas Piketty, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. The books written by these authors have
re-drawn attention to issues of economic distribution and fueled a public move�ment that has put pressure on governments to tackle inequality.
According to the Kuznets Curve suggested by Simon Kuznets in the 1950s, mar�ket forces first increase as the economy develops and then reduce economic ine�quality. This hypothesis has clearly become invalid in the industrialized world in the last few decades. Statistically sound studies on measuring income distribu�tion show that in almost all countries the gap between the income of rich and poor people has widened over the past four decades. Therefore, the trend of in�equality is observable both in developed and in developing economies. As Do�breva (2019, p. 8) points out, “even though factors that impede economic devel�opment are more attributable to developing economies, their overreaching effect is affecting developed economies as well and creates general burdens to the global economic development”.
In this article, I critically deconstruct three compelling arguments regarding the impact of digitization on the future of freedom and the workplace. It is argued, on the one hand, that digitization would decrease costs, increase productivity and 'lift all boats' toward the universal goals of freedom and prosperity for all. On the other hand, it is claimed that digitization produces precarious labour and technological unemployment, thus widening the already gaping inequalities. A third argument revolves around the emergence of a post-capitalist economic paradigm on the model of the Collaborative Commons, supported by the Internet and free/open source technology. It is argued that the Commons favours democratic self-governance over hierarchical management, access over ownership, transparency over privacy, distribution of value over profit maximization and sustainability over growth at all costs. I conclude that the Commons has, indeed, a potential in creating a freer and more sustainable economy. However, for the Commons to expand and prosper, a global institutional reform is sine qua non.
This book explores the potential creation of a broader collaborative economy through commons-based peer production (P2P) and the emergent role of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The book seeks to critically engage in the political discussion of commons-based peer production, which can be classified into three basic arguments: the liberal, the reformist and the anti-capitalist. This book categorises the liberal argument as being in favour of the coexistence of the commons with the market and the state. Reformists, on the other hand, advocate for the gradual adjustment of the state and of capitalism to the commons, while anti-capitalists situate the commons against capitalism and the state. By discussing these three viewpoints, the book contributes to contemporary debates concerning the future of commons-based peer production. Further, the author argues that for the commons to become a fully operational mode of peer production, it needs to reach critical mass arguing that the liberal argument underestimates the reformist insight that technology has the potential to decentralise production, thereby forcing capitalism to transition to post-capitalism. Surveying the three main strands of commons-based peer production, this book makes the case for a post-capitalist commons-orientated transition that moves beyond neoliberalism.
Generally speaking, all societies in history were knowledge societies. However, the modern, conceptualization of the ” knowledge society’ can be traced to John Stuart Mill’s (1831) The Spirit of the Age where social progress was explained through the diffusion of knowledge (intellectual wisdom) and increased opportunities for individual choice arising from industrialization. This was an early indicator foreshadowing the transformation of modern society into a knowledge society. Beginning in the early 20th century, industrialized nations became increasingly reliant on economic investment in the production and distribution of knowledge in training, education, work, research and development (Abramovitz & David, 2000). Also, the importance of knowledge in society became even more pronounced through the advent of specialized areas of science and technology in society. As stated by Stehr (2002), “Contemporary society may be described as a knowledge society based on the extensive penetration of all its spheres of life and institutions by scientific and technological knowledge.”
Der Beitrag thematisiert theoretische Perspektiven und Begrifflichkeiten, mit denen gesellschaftliche Dynamiken als (Post-)Moderne, Wissensgesellschaft, Informationsgesellschaft, postindustrielle Gesellschaft oder flüssige Moderne gefasst werden. Wie deutlich wird, haben digitale Praktiken Anteil an diesen Entwicklungen. Sie konstituieren Gemeinschaften und Subjekte, sie sind Teil von Regierungsformen, Macht, Ideologie, Ungleichheit und damit politischer und ökonomischer Entwicklungen in neoliberalen Zeiten.
Information and knowledge now become directly productive forces, and information becomes the critical raw material of which all social process and social organizations are made. As times go by, general questions of space and social relations in the new rapidly developing information age becomes increasingly necessary, though, to open up for a wider range of life-world issues than before, like questions of experience, identity, architecture and urban design. In a direct sense, the electronic networks collapses into simultaneous interactivity the leading edge activities of economics, politics and media on a planetary scale, making the whole planet one city. In a metaphorical sense, the city is an image of society, with all its diversities, ongoing processes, contradictions, struggles and asymmetries, and 'The Informational City' is therefore 'the global society' of the information age. Castells (1996) possibly gives an opening, could be that the non-cyberspace city-the city of streets, facades, bodies in public space, and 'real life' activities here-can be seen as information interfaces and information processes as well, taking the new paradigms of the information age all the way through. This paper will analyze starting with the urban question, passing through Castells notions of the interaction between information technology, economic restructuring and socio-spatial change, and ending in Informationism, network logic and a complementary perspective of 'The Informational City'.
Key Words : Network Society, Space production, Informational City.
General questions of space and social relations in the new rapidly developing information age becomes increasingly necessary to open up for a wider range of change issues, such as questions of experience, identity, architecture and the city. The new technologies nowadays is able to transform not only the instrumental appropriation of urban space and resources, but also its cultural, social, and personal expressions because of its penetration in social reproduction spheres of communicative actions. Information and communication apparently changed vision of a country and cities while they are correspond to the technology. In a direct sense, technology on the electronic networks collapses into simultaneous interactivity the leading edge activities of economics, politics and media on a planetary scale, making the whole planet one city. In a metaphorical sense, the city is an image of society, with all its diversities, ongoing processes, contradictions, struggles and asymmetries. 'The City' is therefore 'the global society' of the information age. The city of streets, facades, bodies in public space, and 'real life' activities here-can be seen as information interfaces and information processes as well, taking the new paradigms of the information age all the way through. This paper will analyze the city transformation on civic engagements through the physical, mental and virtual spaces of the city, passing through the interaction between information technology, economic restructuring and socio-spatial change, case study of Malaysia's Cybercities.
Generally speaking, all societies in history were knowledge societies. However, the modern, conceptualization of the ” knowledge society’ can be traced to John Stuart Mill’s (1831) The Spirit of the Age where social progress was explained through the diffusion of knowledge (intellectual wisdom) and increased opportunities for individual choice arising from industrialization. This was an early indicator foreshadowing the transformation of modern society into a knowledge society. Beginning in the early 20th century, industrialized nations became increasingly reliant on economic investment in the production and distribution of knowledge in training, education, work, research and development (Abramovitz & David, 2000). Also, the importance of knowledge in society became even more pronounced through the advent of specialized areas of science and technology in society. As stated by Stehr (2002), “Contemporary society may be described as a knowledge society based on the extensive penetration of all its spheres of life and institutions by scientific and technological knowledge.”
MESTER Tibor (2013) Hálózati közösségek etnográfiája: megközelítések és elemzési példák (doktori disszertáció) Konzulens: Horányi Özséb, CSc., egyetemi tanár
Tibor MESTER (2013) Ethnography of Network Communication: approaches and examples (PhD Thesis) Consultant: Prof. Özséb Horányi
This chapter traces the roots of the dominant discourse regarding creativity that comes to prominence in the early twenty-first century, demonstrating that this prominence is not so much a result of strictly new developments as an intensification of prior patterns. It considers the development of cultural policy and statistical evidence, the emergence of neoliberal ideology and the notion of a ‘new’ economy, and the development of the idea that culture may play a role in the ‘regeneration’ of cities. These developments intertwine and overlap to provide the conditions in which a discourse around the value of creativity can thrive.
Marxist Internet scholars have recently shed light on the commodification and exploitation of social media users. While some of these studies have also acknowledged the ideological nature of how online sociality is understood and discussed, they have not yet addressed in great detail the ways in which ideology figures in the process of commodification of social media users. We address this question by combining Marxist ideology theory with insights from cognitive pragmatics. Focusing on the idea of illusion, we draw on Relevance Theory and employ the notions of “relevance” and “cognitive illusion” to discuss the ideological process we call context manipulation, a concept that helps bring to focus the discursive obscuring of the capitalist operational logic of social media corporations. We illustrate our cognitivepragmatic model of ideology with examples of Facebook’s discursive practices. The paper contributes to the discussion on ideology in cultural studies and the discussion on commodification of online sociality in critical Internet and media studies by offering a revised interpretation of Marx’s ideology theory that highlights the discursive and cognitive nature of ideological processes, and by elaborating on the workings of ideology in the specific context of corporate social media.
This article critically examines the fundamental premise of the creative industries discourse: human creativity as a distinctive input in the production process is the core source of economic value generation. It points out that this discourse emerged within the political-economic context of our time where creativity and knowledge are celebrated, while human labour itself as a factor of production and social force is increasingly de-legitimised and marginalised. The article argues that the radical potential in the discourse (the labour-value nexus) has failed to be recognised, and asks how it can be rediscovered and linked to contemporary socio-economic debates. Turning its attention to the creativity residing in the cultural sector, this article also argues that we should better understand its economic characteristics (productivity-low) and social consequences (diversity-high), and their implications for cultural policy.
In the contemporary so-called information society, which is first and foremost a capitalist society, information and information-artifacts are increasingly commodified; a development that serves the interest of powerful elites. A central problem in the capitalist information society, both on a societal and an individual level, is the phenomenon of information overload. As the problem of information overload becomes acute, its dialectic relation to the concept of information society is revealed. Horkheimer and Adorno’s thoughts about the mechanisms of the culture industry, it’s role in the structures of late capitalism, the interplay between the culture industry and the subject, as well as the individual’s and collective’s agency offer us interesting insights when addressing the capitalist information society and the phenomenon of information overload.
This pair of essays combines effectively to constitute an invitation and a corrective, but they also pose a set of provoking questions. They invite the reader to ponder if and how technological innovations congeal around contemporary mediated practices in ways which recast our understandings of social and cultural relations. Here, both war reporting and social networks require a distinct sociological treatment, but one which treads delicately between the Scylla of modishness (the uncritical waving of the web 2.0 banner, for instance) and the Charybdis of absolute stasis, where little has changed. In this sense, they show why it is important to resist imprecise characterisations of digital mediations which replace fine-grained examinations of situated material practices with flabby sloganeering. That they do so whilst insisting on the importance of framing concepts reinforces the necessity of a theoretically attuned sociology of the digital that never loses sight of local relations. To bring together networks, mediations and communications is, after all, to associate three complex and multi-layered terms that have abstract qualities as well as evoking palpable, concrete, material worlds.
Without doubt, one of the defining features of the past 30 years has been the ongoing development of digital technology. The scale and pace of innovation in technologies such as computing and mobile telephony has prompted many commentators to portray societal development (at least in the overdeveloped regions of North America, East Asia and Europe) as being more technologically driven than ever before. Manuel Castells (2006, p. 3), for example, puts it as follows: ‘we know that technology does not determine society: it is society’. While a good case can be made for approaching such statements with some scepticism, it is nonetheless undeniable that digital technologies are deeply implicated in contemporary social life.
Young people will have to change their names in order to escape their "cyber past," prophesized Eric Schmidt (Google's CEO) in August 2010. This provocative thought from the principal opponent of Facebook may be considered a strategic maneuver, but it also highlights the deep societal changes coming with the continuing development of social media. From the instructors' perspective, people may wonder if online education could help students develop their communication skills in the era of web 2.0. But others may contend that a priority has to be given to the class content, not to another use of the media, which simply provides a new channel to enhance the learning experience. This chapter proposes a first step to reconcile the two perspectives and shows that improving students' communication skills and awareness when teaching in an online environment can enhance student learning and help personal branding, i.e. developing the ability to package their skills and to showcase their distinctive attributes. To help demonstrate this, results from the authors' courses are provided.
En el presente articulo proponemos una aproximacion especifica al modo en que los conceptos de poder y de capacidad se vinculan en las definiciones explicitas de poder de Manuel Castells en los textos de su periodo marxista, correspondientes a los anos 1967-1982. A lo largo del trabajo intentaremos descubrir las operaciones teoricas principales, los movimientos de cambio conceptual, asi como las concepciones del poder que el sociologo catalan pone en juego a partir de esta relacion especifica. La investigacion pone al descubierto la tactica de apropiacion que despliega Castells en relacion al concepto de poder de Poulantzas. El trabajo se inscribe en el marco de los esfuerzos actuales de revalorizacion de la teoria social y del poder, y de la tendencia del conjunto de las ciencias sociales a la recuperacion del problema del poder como clave de interpretacion general y como estrategia renovada de articulacion disciplinaria.
Theodor W. Adorno asked in 1968: What is the fundamental question of the present structure of society? Do we live in late capitalism or an industrial society? In today's society, we can reformulate this question: What is the fundamental question of the present structure of society? Do we live in capitalism or an information society? This article deals with these questions. A typology of information society theories is presented. Radical discontinuous information society theories, sceptical views and continuous information society theories are distinguished. Second, an alternative concept that is grounded in Hegelian philosophy and Marxist political economy is presented. The basic argument is that the emergence of transnational informational capitalism is a transformational sublation, but not a radical one, and that informational capitalism is just one of the forms of capitalism that co-exist today. There is a unity of diversity of capitalism(s).
This is a thesis about knowledge-intensive work and the organizational con-texts of such work. The specific objective is to analyze the geography of work. The geography of work may diverge from the geography of employ-ment when paid work is undertaken at the premises of client organizations, during commuting, on business trips, in external meetings, at home or in other places. The focus is on work practice and the perspective of everyday life. The study examines where knowledge workers are located and where knowledge work occurs. It is about what knowledge workers actually do. The everyday perspective is about the relationship between paid work and unpaid work. To understand the organization of knowledge-intensive work in a time–space context, different possibilities and constraints must be taken into con-sideration. This thesis has a time–geographical approach. The case study examines knowledge-intensive organizations located in central Stockholm. The organizations are in PR/communications, management consultancy, and research and development sectors. Both private and public sector organiza-tions are considered. The empirical study combines interviews, time diaries and questionnaires. The NVivo software program is employed to analyze the interview data. The main conclusion from the thesis is that in order to under-stand knowledge-intensive work, different factors such as relations, attitudes and norms need to be considered. These factors affect the organization of work, which in turn is affected by the choices, possibilities, constraints, ex-pectations and negotiations of different actors (i.e. employees, employers, family, clients and colleagues). The working time of the knowledge workers investigated in this study is mainly spent at the office of their employers. Social interaction with col-leagues and clients is an important part of their work. Work routines involve many meetings, both face-to-face and virtual. Face-to-face interactions play a crucial role in shaping the geography of work; teamwork is important. The knowledge workers in this study are “working long hours,” and the norm is to work more than what have been expected.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) present social movement actors with new opportunities
for transnational communication, and for communication capacity building. In his book Communication
Power, Manuel Castells identifies communication capacity, as well as processes associated with network
building, as key contributors to social movement power and influence. However, scholars have yet to
investigate these dimensions of communication activism. In order to better understand the processes and
challenges associated with transnational communication capacity building, this article examined 10 Tactics for
turning information into action, an initiative designed to promote communication capacity building among
social movement actors in the global South. Drawing on Castells’ ideas about reprogramming, switching, and
connecting the local and global, we trace the networking process undertaken in the project’s production,
distribution and use. The examination of this case reveals a number of barriers to transnational
communication capacity building and identifies dimensions of Castells’ networking process that require
further development or elaboration, most notably the critical role played by local agents in transnational
networking.
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