Class Consciousness and the Information Society
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CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY Darin David Barney B.A. (Pol. Sci.) Simon Fraser University, 1989 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Political Science @ Darin avid Barney 1991 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY July 1991 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, withcut permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME : Darin avid Barney DEGREE: Master of Arts (Political Science) TITLE OF THESIS: Class ~onsciousnessand the Information Society Chairperson: Dr. I,. Dohuzinskis Assistant Professor - U- - _ -- Dr. A.H. Solnjee-_ Professor.. --- ---- Senior Supervisor -- Dr. David %aycockTP-- Assistant Professor Dr. William Leiss Professor, ~ommunications, Vice-president, Research, Simon Fraser university External Examiner DATE APPROVED: PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICtNSE I hereby yran; to Simon Fraser University the right to lend TY thesis, project or exrended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fr-aser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the ! ibrary of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission tor multiple copying of this work for scholarlv purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for firlar?ial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay Class Consciousness and The Information Society Author: (s ignature) Darin David-- Rdrney ( name I ABSTRACT The dominant productive forces of any given epoch generally determine the economic, political and social structures which give shape to society. In the developed nations of the western capitalist world, the organization of society around industrial manufacturing is rapidly giving way to a social organization based on the production, dissemination and consumption of information and its related technologies. The transition to an Information Society is occurring primarily within the confines of the capitalist economies of the west, particularly North ~merica. consequently, questions regarding the nature and significance of both class relations and class analysis still pertain in the Information Society. This thesis explores the relationship between class consciousness and the information society, from theoretical, political and sociological perspectives. The examination of class consciousness in the information society achieves a number of objectives. Initially it allows for a theoretical examination of the concepts of both class consciousness and the information society. Secondly, it seeks to highlight significant attributes of the information society, particularly those concerning the changing nature of class dynamics and the potential for the formation of class consciousness. Leading from this, one is able to assess the analytical value of the concept of class consciousness in light of the emerging class dynamics of the information iii society. Finally, on the basis of this assessment, I offer exploratory suggestions regarding possible adjustments in class analysis which would make it more sensitive to the nature of class conflict in the information society. The thesis begins with a conceptual history of the information society, followed by a theoretical examination of the concept of class consciousness. The third chapter examines the changing nature of class dynamics in the information society, and new factors which may have an effect on the formation of working class consciousness. The final chapter briefly highlights some possible theoretical directions which may lead to a more sensitive and fruitful class analysis of the information society. The thesis concludes that while the information society represents a definite continuation of capitalist class society, many elements of its operation severely mitigate against the formation of class consciousness as presented by traditional Marxist theory. This realization reveals weaknesses in the utility of the concept of class consciousness, and necessitates new directions and investigations. DEDICATION The following is dedicated to the memory of George and Lena Pelat. It is the legacy of hard work left by Baba and Gido which inspired the completion of this thesis. "First the hunter, then the miner of the soil; next the mechanical industrialist and now the information engineer." - Marshall McLuhan uTomorrow's struggle will not be a repetition or even a modernization of yesterdayfs. If - Alain Touraine ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my supervisors in the completion of this project. The inspiration, encouragement and criticism of Professors Somjee and Laycock have been invaluable. I would also like to thank my family, avid, ~vangelineand Lisa Barney, for their guidance and support throughout this and all my other endeavours. Finally, I must thank my precious Zoe, for her love and kind attention in the final hours of this task. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .............................................. ii Abstract ........................................ iii Dedication ............................................ v Acknowledgements ...................................... vii Preface ............................................... x Introduction .......................................... 1 I . The Information Society .A Conceptual History .. 6 The Forerunners of post-Industrialism ........ 7 The Liberal post-Industrialists .............. 13 Critical post-Industrialists ................. 24 ~akingthe ran sit ion to an "Information" Society .......................... 32 The Emergence of the Information Society ..... 39 The ~nformationsociety as Myth .............. 52 conclusion ................................... 58 Notes ........................................ 60 11 . The Theory of class ~onsciousness ............... 62 Karl Marx .Foundations of a Theory of Class Consciousness ............ 63 Georg Lukacs . ist tory and Class ~onsciousness .................. 75 E.P. Thompson .The Process of Class or mat ion ...................... 88 The operationalizing of Class Consciousness .. 98 Notes ........................................ 109 111 . capitalism. Class. and Class Consciousness in the Information Society ........ 113 The continuity of Privilege .................. 115 viii Class Boundaries in the Information Society .. 119 Working Life in the Information Society ...... 133 The Information society as a Potential Classless Society .............. 153 Conclusion ................................... 159 Notes ........................................ 164 IV . Towards a Better understanding of Class. consciousness. and Conflict in the ~nformationSociety ..... 167 Erik Olin Wright and contradictory Class Locations ...................... 168 The possibilities of a Latter-day Luddism .... 176 Andre Gorz .The ~iberationfrom Work and the Working-class .............. 180 Ernest0 Laclau and Chantal Mouffe .Hegemony and New Social Movements ....... 188 Conclusion ................................... 196 Notes ........................................ 198 conclusion ............................................ 200 References ............................................ 210 PREFACE The Information Society, like the majority of those which preceded it, is unfortunately infected with male- dominated language and speech patterns. Words can make women disappear. Every effort has been made to purge this text of sexist language. ~ender-specificreferences in original quotations have been left intact. I would encourage readers of this thesis to take up their pencils and "correctttany sexist references which I may have overlooked, if only for the benefit of subsequent readers. - Darin avid Barney Introduction Writing in 1969, Marshall McLuhan observed: "Today we live invested with an electronic information environment that is quite as imperceptible to us as water is to a fish." The following thesis is an attempt to increase this level of perception, through an analysis of class consciousness and the information society. ~lthoughnot uncontested, the concept of the "information society" is one which is rapidly gaining currency. Some have argued that all societies, from Babylon to the present, have been shaped by the production and distribution of knowledge (Innis, 1972, pps.1-11.). While this assertion may be a little bold, it is safe to say that the major forces of production and consumption, including knowledge, have historically had a determining influence on the nature of political, social and cultural relations of any given society. For instance, the industrial revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of a series of fundamental technical changes in the production and distribution of goods, accompanied by wide ranging social and cultural changes (Kranzberg, 1989, p.21). In the current era, industrial manufacturing is being replaced as the primary economic activity in the advanced capitalist world, by the production, distribution and consumption of information and its related services and technologies. Just as water and steam powered machines spawned the factory revolution of the industrial age, now the computer is at the center of the telecommunications explosion within the information society. For some, the coming of the information society represents the