Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

the individual and collective identity (theindividual, the citizen, the human being,the group) that seeks to preserve its lifeamidst the sweeping transformations inknowledge. This tension between the“network” and the “self ” produces newforms of social conflict, of which knowledgeis a salient feature. Humanity faces, in placeof class conflict, a conflict in whichnetworks, with their multiple symbolicbases, play a dominant role in feeding andmarshalling its main features. Thus, Castellsstresses the roles played by new social andcultural movements, such as students’ andfeminist movements, the peace movementand environmental movements. There issomething in these different movements,as in the collapse of the socialist blockand its continuing repercussions, as wellas in the retreat of the symbolic power ofthe patriarchal system within the familyand in society at large, that reflects thecontradictions ignited by the informationage.From this perspective, the importanceof the networked society concept isrepresented by the social and informationalaxes. Because Castells highlights the roleof information in our age, information,viewed as the product of technologicalsystems and biological models, is hisparadigm for the new world. Thus thenetwork becomes an expression of acomplex activity; it resembles the humangenome strand supported by knowledge,by advanced, that is, and very precisemathematical data. Accepting the networkconcept means accepting that technology,and specifically information technology,lie behind social organisation. In Castells’words, “information” capitalism becomesthe alternative for what Marx in thenineteenth century called “industrialcapitalism.”The Internet has become the primaryinternational vehicle for conveying ideas;indeed, it has the power to globalisethe world (Castells, 2002, in French).It has helped destabilise all tools ofcommunication and has restructured theirarchitecture, their uses, and their modes ofproduction. At the same time, they havechanged how work is conducted and howauthority and control are exercised.The Internet is now the largest registryof reference information for all areasof knowledge. In addition, its networksprovide interactive possibilities throughoutthe fabric of society through rapid digitalmechanisms. As a result, the “place” in thenetworked society is not physical but isequivalent to “flows.” Capital flows and theabundant information made available onthe internet have no relation to a specificplace; they are in a “non-place” that issynonymous with all places. Furthermore,“time,” according to Castells, is “nontime,”since it is no longer connected tothe clock that, in the industrial age, definedits role. In the networked society, time is asort of vessel that allows us to be in severalplaces at once.THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY:TOWARDS EXPANDINGCHOICES FOR RENAISSANCEAND DEVELOPMENTThe 2005 UNESCO Report adopted theconcept of the knowledge society in theplural, as “knowledge societies,” viewingthis as the most appropriate term forthe changes taking place in a world ofwhich technology forms the cornerstone,and the central manifestations of whosegeneral structure are the new economyand communication networks. Themanifestations and epiphanies of thelatter are, in their turn, reflected in humanrealities, confronting humanity with newchallenges and questions. This highlightsthe importance of broadening thesignifications of the term to embrace all thechanges and social challenges influencedby this new perspective, or, perhaps moreaccurately, this new world.The importance of expanding thesignifications of the “knowledge” in“knowledge society” requires that theconcept no longer be restricted to thescientific and technological dimensions,as it clearly is in the indices and indicators“The Internet hasbecome the primaryinternational vehiclefor conveyingideas; indeed, ithas the power toglobalise the world”CastellsExpanding thesignifications ofthe “knowledge”in “knowledgesociety” requiresthat the concept nolonger be restrictedto the scientificand technologicaldimensionsTHE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMATICS OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY35