Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

NETWORK SOCIETY
Informational labour is thus the glue bonding informational capitalism
together. As already noted, it has usurped old-style capitalist classes since ownership
of capital is no longer sufficient to make headway in today’s world. Those
who run companies must be equipped with the informational skills that allow
them to remain viable in face of enormous uncertainty and constant change.
Sitting on a pile of stock is no longer enough because, without the informational
labour to keep pace, it will be lost. Accordingly, those information occupations
which manifest abilities to analyse, plot strategy, communicate effectively and
identify opportunities are a priority and, as such, they move to the core of
capitalist enterprise.
Specific skills are less important to these people than the overriding skill of
adaptability. That is, they are ‘self-programmable’, able to train and retrain wherever
necessary. This makes them especially suited to survival in the fast-paced
and dauntingly ‘flexible’ world of informational capitalism. Gone are the days of
permanent and secure employment in the large bureaucracy, this having been
replaced by contract work for the duration of the particular project. This frightens
many, but not informational labour, since it eagerly adapts to ‘portfolio’ careers
in which capability is demonstrated by a record of achievement on a range
of jobs (Brown and Scase, 1994). Old values, such as loyalty to a particular
company, are increasingly things of the past. These nomads happily move to and
from projects, drawing on their network contacts rather than on the corporate
hierarchy for the next deal. They do not seek security of tenure, but rather the
excitement and challenge of the latest development in their field. Indispensable,
but not especially attached to the company, such workers sign up for a ‘project’,
then happily go their way. Think of the freelance journalist able to turn a hand
to pretty well any piece of reportage; the software engineer who is devoted to
the particular piece of programming he or she is developing and connected
to perhaps a few hundred like-minded people around the globe; or the professor
whose allegiance is to his or her peers rather than to any particular institution.
One cannot escape the contrast with generic labour. While generic labour is
fixed and rigid, yearning for job security and able to perform the same tasks day
after day that were learned in early training, informational labour is able to and
even eager for change. Informational labour is nowadays the prime source of
wealth, whether busy making tradable services in accountancy, engaged in
‘knowledge intensive’ businesses such as software engineering and biotechnology,
designing fashionable clothes, making appealing advertisements, or
simply conceiving a more cost-effective way of delivering products.
Meritocracy?
This promotion of the category informational labour carries with it a strong
reminder of the idea of meritocracy, where success hinges not on inherited
advantage but on ability plus effort in the educational system. Informational
labour, even if it is not discipline specific, does seem to require possession
of high-level education. In universities there has been considerable interest in
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