The Condition of Postmodernity 13 - autonomous learning

172 Political-economic capitalist transformationleast, plausible, and they ought, therefore, to be given more carefulscrutiny. The immediate task at hand is to outline an interpretationof the roots of such a major transition in capitalism's dominantregime of accumulation.10Theorizing the transItIonTo the degree that we are witnessing a historical transition, still farfrom complete and in any case, like Fordism, bound to be partial incertain important respects, so we have encountered a series of theoreticaldilemmas. Can we grasp theoretically the logic, if not thenecessity, of the transition? To what degree do past and presenttheoretical formulations of the dynamics of capitalism have to bemodified in the light of the radical reorganizations and restructuringstaking place in both productive forces and social relations? And canwe represent the current regime sufficiently well to get some grip onthe probable course and implications of what appears to be an ongoingrevolution?The transition from Fordism to flexible accumulation has, in fact,posed serious difficulties for theories of any sort. Keynesians,monetarists, neo-classical partial equilibrium theorists, appear just asbefuddled as everyone else. The transition has also posed seriousdilemmas for Marxists. In the face of such difficulties, many commentatorshave abandoned any pretence of theory, and simply resortedto data-chasing to keep pace with the rapid shifts. But heretoo there are problems - what data are key indicators rather thancontingent series? The only general point of agreement is that somethingsignificant has changed in the way capitalism has been workingsince about 1970.The first difficulty is to try to encapsulate the nature of thechanges we are looking at. In tables 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8 I summarizethree recent accounts of the transition. The first, a rather celebratoryaccount by Halal (1986) of the new capitalism, emphasizes the positiveand liberatory elements of the new entrepreneurialism. The second,by Lash and Urry (1987), emphasizes power relations and politics inrelation to economy and culture. The third, by Swyngedouw (1986),provides much more detail on transformations in technology and the