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The Rise of Technocapitalism

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The Rise of Technocapitalism Science Studies 2/2001 The Rise of Technocapitalism Luis Suarez-Villa The rise of technocapitalism involves the commodification of knowledge in faster and more diverse ways than at any previous time in human history. This article provides insights from a macro-analytical perspective on the phenomena that mark the emer- gence of technocapitalism as a new form of market capitalism, and their influence on the commodification of knowledge for invention and innovation. The phenomena in question involve the rapid accumulation of inventions and of knowledge-sensitive in- frastructure. The rapid reproduction of creativity and a faster diffusion of knowledge, both of which have been supported by a massification of technical education, are also important for the emergence of the new era. Their contribution to the commodification of technological knowledge is most obvious in the pervasive corporatization of inven- tion and innovation, and even more so in the emergence of continuous invention and innovation as a standard component of corporate strategy. Keywords: technocapitalism, knowledge society, commodification, innovation Technocapitalism is an emerging form of most valuable resources of this emerging market capitalism, rooted in invention new era. As a result, the new industries and the development of new technolo- and activities that have risen in recent gies. Various phenomena mark the rise years are far more dependent on intan- of this new epoch and are harbingers of gibles than any of their predecessors. major changes in the social and eco- Technocapitalism is replacing the re- nomic structures of the twenty-first cen- production of capital as the most impor- tury. All of the identifiable phenomena tant function of society with the repro- have substantial implications for the duction of knowledge. Capital has be- modes and means through which knowl- come more ubiquitous than ever in hu- edge is used and commodified. man history, to the extent that theories Unlike the raw materials and labour and models based on its scarcity, formu- power, which were the main resources of lated as recently as three decades ago, industrial capitalism, technocapitalism have become obsolete. On the other hand, relies greatly on intangibles. Such intan- the scarcest resources today are knowl- gibles as knowledge and creativity are the edge and creativity. They are scarce pre- Science Studies, Vol. 14(2001) No. 2, 4–20 suarez 4 11.12.2001, 16:18 Luis Suarez-Villa cisely because they can only be acquired vanced society. It should therefore not be over long periods of time and through surprising that the newest and most in- enormous effort and persistence. novative activities, such as biotechnol- More than ever, it seems that the ac- ogy, software design, microelectronics, cumulation and reproduction of techno- advanced computing, bioinformatics or logical knowledge will decide which so- nanotechnology are more dependent on cieties prosper. Those that emerge at the new knowledge and creativity than any top of technocapitalism’s global hierar- of the industries spawned by industrial chy will be the ones that can build up capitalism. By and large, therefore, we and reproduce new knowledge more ef- are witnessing a major transformation of fectively. No society that expects to pros- society that is highly dependent on per in this emerging new era can escape commodified knowledge, deployed to this imperative, in much the same way suit the profit motives of the agents of that those which advanced into indus- the new order. trial capitalism during the nineteenth This contribution will provide a suc- and twentieth centuries could avoid as- cinct overview of several phenomena, similating its premises. which support the emergence of techno- The emergence of the so-called knowl- capitalism. The first set of phenomena edge society is an important outcome of to be considered involves long-term pro- technocapitalism. The reproduction of cesses of accumulation. The accumula- knowledge is at the core of this phenom- tion of inventions and of knowledge- enon, and is as fundamental to the new sensitive infrastructure has been of fun- order as raw materials and the reproduc- damental importance for the emergence tion of capital were to industrial capital- of technocapitalism, and all of the other ism. However, for knowledge to be re- phenomena that are part of this process produced it must first become a com- of change rely greatly on them. A subse- modity. Commodifying knowledge is quent section will consider a set of phe- therefore a vital prerequisite for it to gain nomena related to processes of diffusion any exchange value. Under techno- and reproduction. The massification of capitalism, knowledge assumes the education, diffusion and corporatisation properties of a private commodity, much of technological knowledge, and the ris- as raw materials or labour power did ing importance of continuous innova- under industrial capitalism. Capital, raw tion are all vitally important to the emer- materials and labour power are therefore gence of technocapitalism, and to the relegated to a less important plane. new forms of knowledge reproduction As the commodification of knowledge and commodification that it is spawn- deepens, technocapitalism places it at ing. A final section will then provide the service of economic gain more than some reflections on the emergence of at any previous time in human history. the new era and its social implications. Today, technological knowledge and cre- ativity account for more than two-thirds Processes of Accumulation of the value of most products and ser- vices, and its total value is already greater The first set of phenomena supporting than that of physical capital in every ad- the rise of technocapitalism involves ac- 5 suarez 5 11.12.2001, 16:18 Science Studies 2/2001 cumulation. Much as the accumulation which other new discoveries could be of capital in the nineteenth century was spawned. fundamental for the emergence of in- Figure 1 provides evidence on the dustrial capitalism, the rise of techno- long-term accumulation of inventions capitalism depends greatly on two dis- that has underpinned the emergence of tinctive processes of accumulation. Both technocapitalism. The graph shows the of these processes are long-term in na- total number of invention patents that ture and their importance can be seen were legally valid and available for use by examining some specific trends in the in the United States, in any given year twentieth century. between 1880 and 1995. In order to re- ceive a patent, any idea or discovery Invention must pass a rigorous and lengthy evalu- ation of its novelty. A satisfactory evalu- A very large and rapid accumulation of ation that leads to a patent award can inventions during most of the twentieth then serve as a benchmark of invention century provided a fundamental plat- and its accumulation over time. The in- form from which the new era is emerg- dicator shown in Figure 1 therefore con- ing. At no previous time in human his- stitutes the total number of unexpired tory were so many new discoveries and patents that are legally available for use ideas found, introduced and made to in any activity. This measure was desig- work in practical endeavours. The new nated as the innovative capacity, mainly discoveries provided an enormous and because it comprises the total stock of increasing stock of knowledge from inventions that can be used to innovate Figure 1. Innovative capacity (total number of legally valid invention patents available) 1880-1995 (USA) 1400 Aggregate 1200 innovative capacity 1000 800 Corporate innovative capacity 600 Individual 400 innovative capacity 200 0 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 1995 Source: Suarez-Villa, 2000: 132. 6 suarez 6 11.12.2001, 16:18 Luis Suarez-Villa (or, in other words, to put an invention to the stock of existing inventions, the more some purpose) in any field (see Suarez- likely it is that new ones will be created Villa, 1990; 2000: chapter 3). It is there- and that the stock will in turn grow fore a gross societal indicator of the ag- larger. The reproduction of technologi- gregate stock of inventions available for cal knowledge (which is one of the use as innovations in any given year. phenomena underpinning the rise of The accumulation of inventions in- technocapitalism) feeds right into this creased rapidly during most of the twen- dynamic, since the new inventions it tieth century and particularly so after the generates enlarge the stock or mass of 1950s. Although the data shown in Fig- existing ones. The rapid accumulation of ure 1 pertains to the United States, in inventions also contributed toward the most every advanced nation the rise in more expansive commodification of invention patenting was also unprec- technological knowledge of the last four edented, attaining levels never reached decades of the twentieth century. A before. Historical works on the nine- larger stock of inventions from which to teenth and twentieth centuries have learn or draw upon by itself made com- shown how the accumulation process modification more valuable. unfolded, based not only on patenting At the same time, the vast and increas- but also on other indicators (see Jewkes ing accumulation of inventions of the et al., 1959; Schmookler, 1966; Mensch, late twentieth century provided a spring- 1979; von Hippel, 1988; Cantwell & board from which various processes of Barrera, 1997; Gaudillière & Löwy, 1998). globalisation started. One of the results The growing importance of patenting is the globalisation of intellectual prop- during the twentieth century was itself erty issues, including patenting. The a reflection of the rising value of tech- pressures to globalise and commodify nological knowledge as a commodity intellectual property are now reaching (see Warshofsky, 1994; Mandeville, 1996; into the most remote parts of the world, Rivette & Kline, 2000). If technological seeking to standardise any and all prop- knowledge had not acquired increasing erty rights related to technological importance, patenting would not have knowledge.
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