Shin Il-Ae Kim Ye-ji

CONTENTS 1.Idea of Network Society 2.The Network Society 3.Capital and Labor 4.Flows vs. Places and the Role of the Nation State 5.Critiques of the Network Society 6.Technological determinism 7.Capital and Labor 8.Conclusion

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Idea of Network Society Information society Global village Digital society Wired society Post-industrial society Network society They describe the same phenomena, while others do not.

Idea of Network Society [ Manuel Castells ] (1942~), Spain Sociologist – information society and communication research. One of the world’s most often-cited social science and communications scholars.

Idea of Network Society

Timeless Time Space of flows

The Network Society Information age Annihilation of space, globalization Horizontal corporation Skilled flexible workers [ Features of Network Society ]

InformationInformational Essential component of all societies. key factor in economic productivity. Informational shift to the manipulation of information itself. Capital and Labor

Networked Labor Switched-off Labor Serves the goals of the network · Self-programmable labor: Manage information · Generic Labor: Deskilled, disposable Has nothing to offer the network In the context of the network economy is non-labor

Flow vs. Places and the Role of the Nation State [ Space of Flows ] Challenges the space of places, including regional communities and nation states. Networks → “Destruction of human experience”

Flow vs. Places and the Role of the Nation State

[ Space of places ] In opposition to the space of places. Places are condensations of human history, culture and matter. Castells “For communal identity to be a site of democratic resistance communities must reach out and build links with other communities of other cultures.”

Flow vs. Places and the Role of the Nation State [ Flows and places ] Sovereignty is ceded both upwards to the space of flows and downwards to regional and communal groups. Castells “Nation states will survive, but not so their sovereignty”

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Critiques of the Network Society Webster “his depiction of the contemporary world is so familiar, even derivative.” Target Castells' analysis of the role of information, of production, and of the relationship between informational labor and capitalism.

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Technological determinism Types of Technological determinism HumanTechnologySocietyHumanSocietyTechnology

Technological determinism “The mode of development is technological.” “The autonomous dynamics of technological discovery and diffusion” “Technology is society,and we can’t understand society except technology.” - The relative autonomy of the mode of development became the theoretical problem. Castells VS Webster

- Criticism centers on productivity. “Lack of a stable calculable relationship between the value of outputs…lies behind the historical difficulties in commodifying information.” It’s difficult to integrate into a capitalist economy. “The network economy relies on productivity increases made possible by information technology.” Castells VS Garnham Technological determinism

Example : i-Pad They didn’t conduct market research. Korea changed the law because of i-Pad. Economy society is changed by appearance of i-Pad.

Example : i-Pad People’s daily life is changed by i-Phone & i-Pad. -> It makes New life style. i-Pad make more Technology competition.

Much of the power of capital has been appropriated by informational (self-programmable) labor, particularly those actors who are at the juncture of different networks. This is very similar to the concept of a meritocracy, in which individuals have power in proportion to their knowledge, skills, or the value of their labor. Capital and Labor

The function fulfilled by the capitlist is no more than the function of capital executed consciously and willingly. The capitalist functions only as personified capital, capital as a person, just as the worker is no more than labor personified. Capital and Labor

Conclusion The familiarity of Casteels’ analysis, and the connections he draws between the disparate phenomena and factors he examines, is valuable. Webster and Garnham present credible critiques of Casteels’ concept of an information age. The network society is more convincingly a development of industrial society than an entirely new construct.

Conclusion Castells does seem to be of two minds!!! He describes it as enabling rather than determining “ The internationalization of the economy is only possible because of information technology.” Garnham and webster are correct that Castells seems to be elevating technoloty to a priviledged topic of analysis.

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