Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

NETWORK SOCIETY
which globalisation integrates people and processes and to assess fragmentations
and disintegrations. This supplies the unifying theme of his trilogy.
Castells traces the roots of the information age to the 1970s, to that period
of capitalist crisis that marked the end of what has been described as the ‘postwar
settlement’ (full employment, rising living standards, state welfare systems,
etc.). This precipitated a period of restructuring of capitalist enterprise, as corporations
caught in recession and facing sharper competition than before sought
sources of profitability. Now, this restructuring happened to coincide with the
appearance of what Castells terms the informational mode of development, a
phenomenon closely associated with the growth of information and communications
technologies.
The restructuring of capitalism was, in key ways, a matter of taking up the
new technologies and coming to terms with ICTs, in search of a new means
of successful commercial activity. Especially since the 1970s, a renewed form of
capitalism – what Castells refers to as ‘informational capitalism’ – has been that
which utilises information networks to conduct its affairs, from within the factory
(with new ways of working) to worldwide marketing. Moreover, this is closely
involved with the long-term, ongoing and accelerating process of globalisation,
so much so that the ‘network society’ is one in which capitalist activity is
conducted in real time around the world, something that is unthinkable without
sophisticated ICTs.
For many writers the spread of global information networks heralds the
demise of the nation state, since frontiers are irrelevant to electronics flows and,
accordingly, marketing, production and distribution are increasingly conducted
on a world stage that undermines national boundaries. There is acknowledgement
of this tendency in Castells, but still he does not suggest that networks
mean the death of the nation state, especially in the sense that politics might be
somehow of diminishing importance. The nation state is weakened in certain
respects, and it is certainly drawn into the global marketplace, but Castells insists
that its role remains important. Chiefly this is because, though global integration
is the trend, there is a cognate need for maximum adaptability of participants.
Radical and frequent shifts in market situation and opportunity are the order of
the day in a world where ‘creative chaos . . . characterises the new economy’. To
meet this ‘relentlessly variable geometry’ (Castells, 1996, p. 147), governments
are responsible for seizing opportunities (and shouldering blame) depending on
circumstances. Thus judicious encouragement of strategically important research
projects, or timely involvement in important contractual negotiations, above
all in ensuring good governance, are vital roles of nation states today. Hence
they still matter enormously, even if they are compelled to operate in a global
maelstrom of information flows.
Castells offers a whirlwind tour of the recent winners and losers in the globally
integrated world, highlighting the variability of results in Latin America and
the former Soviet Union and the potential of post-apartheid South Africa. His
theme here is that the differences across this changing world scene, where conventional
terms such as North and South confuse rather than clarify, are important
things to note, something which demonstrates that appropriate government
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