Postindustrial society

In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy.

The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related to similar sociological theoretical concepts such as post-Fordism, information society, knowledge economy, post-industrial economy, liquid modernity, and network society. They all can be used in economics or social science disciplines as a general theoretical backdrop in research design.

As the term has been used, a few common themes, including the ones below have begun to emerge.

# The economy undergoes a transition from the production of goods to the provision of services.
# Knowledge becomes a valued form of capital; see Human capital.
# Producing ideas is the main way to grow the economy.
# Through processes of globalization and automation, the value and importance to the economy of blue-collar, unionized work, including manual labor (e.g., assembly-line work) decline, and those of professional workers (e.g., scientists, creative-industry professionals, and IT professionals) grow in value and prevalence.
# Behavioral and information sciences and technologies are developed and implemented. (e.g., behavioral economics, information architecture, cybernetics, game theory and information theory.)

Origins

Daniel Bell popularized the term through his 1974 work ''The Coming of Post-Industrial Society''.Bell, Daniel. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1974. Although some have credited Bell with coining the term, French sociologist Alain Touraine published in 1969 the first major work on the post-industrial society. The term was also used extensively by social philosopher Ivan Illich in his 1973 paper '' Tools for Conviviality'' and appears occasionally in Leftist texts throughout the mid-to-late 1960s.

The term has grown and changed as it became mainstream. The term is now used by marketers such as Seth Godin, public policy PhDs such as Keith Boeckelman, and sociologists such as Neil Fligstein and Ofer Sharone. U.S. President Bill Clinton used the term to describe Chinese growth in a round-table discussion in Shanghai in 1998.

Valuation of knowledge

The post-industrialized society is marked by an increased valuation of knowledge. This itself is unsurprising, having been foreshadowed in Daniel Bell's presumption as to how economic employment patterns will evolve in such societies. He asserts employment will grow faster in the tertiary (and quaternary) sector relative to employment in the primary and secondary sector and that the tertiary (and quaternary) sectors will take precedence in the economy. This will continue to occur such that the “impact of the expert” will expand and power will be monopolized by knowledge.Targ, Harry R. "Global Dominance and Dependence, Post-Industrialism, and International Relations Theory: A Review." International Studies Quarterly. 20. 3 (1976): 461-482.

As tertiary and quaternary sector positions are essentially knowledge-oriented, this will result in a restructuring of education, at least in its nuances. The “new power… of the expert” consequently gives rise to the growing role of universities and research institutes in post-industrial societies. Post-industrial societies themselves become oriented around these places of knowledge production and production of experts as their new foci. Consequently, the greatest beneficiaries in the post-industrial society are young urban professionals. As a new, educated, and politicized generation more impassioned by liberalism, social justice, and environmentalism the shift of power into their hands, as a result of their knowledge endowments, is often cited as a good thing.Wright, James D.“The Political Consciousness of Post-Industrialism.” Contemporary Sociology. 7. 3 (1978): 270-273.Banks, Alan and Jim Foster.“The Mystifications of Post-Industrialism. Appalachian Journal . 10. 4 (1983): 372-378.

The increasing importance of knowledge in post-industrial societies results in a general increase in expertise through the economy and throughout society. In this manner, it eliminates what Alan Banks and Jim Foster identify as “undesirable work as well as the grosser forms of poverty and inequality.” This effect is supplemented by the aforementioned movement of power into the hands of young educated people concerned with social justice.

Economists at Berkeley have studied the value of knowledge as a form of capital, adding value to material capital, such as a factory or a truck. Speaking along the same lines of their argument, the addition or 'production' of knowledge, could become the basis of what would undoubtedly be considered 'post-industrial' policies meant to deliver economic growth.

The valuation of specifically scientific knowledge and technology can paradoxically be devalued by individuals in a post-industrial society as they still expect its benefits but are more sensitized to moral trade-offs and risks.

Creativity culture

Similarly, post-industrial society has serviced the creative culture. Many of those most well-equipped to thrive in an increasingly technological society are young adults with tertiary education. As education itself becomes more and more oriented towards producing people capable of answering the need for self-actualization, creativity, and self-expression, successive generations become more endowed with the ability to contribute to and perpetuate such industries. This change in education, as well among the emerging class of young professionals, is initiated by what James D Wright identifies as an “unprecedented economic affluence and the satiation of basic material needs.” Ellen Dunham-Jones as well observes this feature of post-industrial society where “abundant goods reequitably distributed n order thatlaborless leisure and self-determination” can be consumed.Dunham-Jones, Ellen. “New Urbanism as a Counter-Project to Post-Industrialism he Promise of New Urbanism” Places. 13. 2 (2000): 26-31.

The post-industrial society is stressed to be one where knowledge is power and technology is the instrument. Naturally, where one is creatively inclined, they are advantaged by such a society. The doctrine of “speed, mobility, and malleability” is well suited to a dynamic creative industry and as industries of good production decrease in precedence, the way is paved for artists, musicians, and other such types, whose skills are better utilized by the tertiary and quaternary sector. Urban geographer Trevor Barnes, in his work outlining the Vancouver experience in post-war development, evokes the post-industrial condition, citing the emergence and consolidation of a significant video games industry as a constituent of the elite service sector.Barnes, T et al. “Vancouver: Restructuring narratives in the transnational metropolis.” Canadian urban regions: trajectories of growth and change. Eds. L Bourne et al. (2011): 291-327.

This increased faculty of the post-industrialist society with respects to the creative industry is reflected by the economic history of post-industrial societies. As economic activities shift from primarily primary and secondary sector-based to tertiary, and later quaternary, sector-based, cities in which this shift occurs become more open to exchanges of information.Golden, Miriam & Michael Wallerstein. “Domestic and International Causes for the Rise of Pay Inequality: Post-Industrialism, Globalization, and Labor Market Institutions.” The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UCLA (2006). This is necessitated by the demands of a tertiary and quaternary sector: in order to better service an industry focused on finance, education, communication, management, training, engineering, and aesthetic design, the city must become points of exchange capable of providing the most updated information from across the globe. Conversely, as cities become a convergence of international ideas, the tertiary and quaternary sector can be expected to grow.

A virtual cult of 'creatives' have sprung up embodying and often describing and defending the post-industrial ethos. They argue that businesses that create intangibles have taken a more prominent role in the wake of manufacturing's decline.

Actor and then-artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre, Kevin Spacey, has argued the economic case for the arts in terms of providing jobs and being of greater importance in exports than manufacturing (as well as an educational role) in a guest column he wrote for ''The Times''.

Critics

Post-industrialism is criticized for the amount of real fundamental change it produces in society, if any at all. A mild view held by Alan Banks and Jim Foster contends that representations of post-industrial society by advocates assume professional, educated elites were previously less relevant than they have become in the new social order, and that changes that have occurred are minor but greatly embellished. More critical views see the entire process as the highest evolution of capitalism, wherein the system produces commodities as opposed to practical goods and is determined privately instead of socially. This view is complemented by the assertion that “the characteristic feature of a modern hat is, post-industrialsociety is that it is a technocracy.” Such societies then become notable for their ability to subvert social consciousness

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