Frank Webster

What information society

Abstract Increasingly, information is regarded as a defining feature of the modem world, and it is commonplace to refer to countries such as the United States and Britain as “information societies. “ Commentators are, however, strikingly vague about the criteria used to define either information or information societies. Five analytical criteria, i.e., technological, economic, occupational, spatial, and cultural, are used to define either information or information societies. Most definitions are concerned with quantitative measures, which fail to consider important qualitative dimensions of the criteria, though ironically, there is the widespread presumption that quantitative changes in information herald a new type of society, one qualitatively different from predecessors. Further, proponents of an information society operate with nonsemantic conceptions of information. Against this, when information is approached in common sense terms, that is, in terms of its meanings, then the prospects for an approa...

INFORMATION, CAPITALISM AND UNCERTAINTY

This article argues that the changes characterized by many commentators as announcing the ‘information age’ are better seen, not as heralding a new type of society, but as the continuation, consolidation and extension of capitalism – something which is accompanied by constant upheaval and innovation. The shift from conceiving the ‘information society’ as a result of technological breakthroughs to one which lays emphasis on the primacy of ‘information’ itself is observed. The importance especially of informational labour’s ‘flexibility’ is regarded, not as indicative of a new age but of the requirements of globalized capitalism which engenders change the better to consolidate its practices. The instability of life today is ascribed, not to the upheavals resulting from the ‘information revolution’, but rather to the insatiable dynamic that has long been a distinguishing feature of capitalist enterprise. These processes are examined in terms of the shift from public to private provision of information and in the heightened uncertainty of existence today.

The iron cage of the information society

Abstract This paper offers an analysis and critique of recent thought about the ‘information society’. It identifies two phases of futurism, the first a technological enthusiasm that characterised the early 1980s, the second, in the 1990s, which emphasises the transformative capacity of information itself. The second phase is examined at some length, focusing on the concepts of ‘symbolic analysts’ and ‘informational labour’ in the writing especially of Robert Reich and Manuel Castells. In current theory, information has been promoted to centre stage of economic affairs. A new intellectual agenda has been created, centring on features such as globalisation, the spread of networks, flexibility, and the crucial role of educated labour. Three key aspects are identified: the death of communism and the triumph of capitalism, the re‐emergence of meritocratic ideas, and the depiction of new class structures based on information. These are queried by empirical analysis of stratification trends and evidence from so...

Information, urbanism and identity: perspectives on the current work of Manuel Castells

Manuel Castells, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell. Volume 1: The Rise of the Network Society. 1996, pp.556. Volume 2: The Power of Identity. 1997, pp.434.

Is this the information age

What is the nature and role of information in our epoch? Who are the main agents for change? Manuel Castells’ trilogy, The Information Age, is central to the attempt to answer these questions. Frank Webster, whilst acknowledging this, sets out a critique of some key elements of Castells’ analysis.