Social knowledge and social ideal. Social ideal

American sociologist Spanish origin Manuel Castells is best known for his trilogy, The Information Society: History, Economics, Culture, first published in 1996. This book reveals the fundamental nature of the information technology revolution.

M. Castells talks about information society , insisting on this specific term to show the crucial importance of information for all social structures. Production, experience (the sphere of gender relations organized around the family) and power are considered as the main structural elements of any society.

M. Castells introduces the concept of methods of development, meaning by this technological schemes through which labor acts on material in order to create a product, ultimately determining the size and quality of economic surplus. Unlike the agricultural and industrial ones, what is specific to the information mode of development is the impact of knowledge on knowledge itself as the main source of productivity. Knowledge is the source of technology, and at the same time, technology allows us to improve the processes of generating new knowledge and processing information.

Although technology originates in the manufacturing sector, it spreads across many social relations and social structures, permeating and modifying power and human experience. It follows that we should expect the emergence of historically new forms social interaction, social control and social change.

Formed in the 1980-90s. The author calls the new type of economy informational and global. Within such a system, competitiveness depends on the ability to generate, process and effectively use knowledge-based information. At the same time, the global economy is capable of operating as a single system in real time on a global scale. According to M. Castells, the revolution in the field of information technology has created the basis for the globalization of the economy. The globalization of the economy means that GDP and employment will depend on the global market more than on domestic economic activity, with politics becoming the main driver of competitiveness.

M. Castells considers the network logic of its basic structure to be one of the key features of the information society. The emergence of a new society is accompanied by a transformation of social forms of space and time and the emergence of a new culture, covering all areas, from everyday life to world politics.

If the expansion of agrarian societies is expressed in the seizure of space, and industrial societies - in the seizure of material resources, then the onset of information societies is associated with the imposition identity, which is understood as a way of constructing meanings involved in the process of the subject’s perception of external and inner world. M. Castells raises the question of the fate of the individual in a network society, placing special emphasis on the consequences of the exclusion of large communities of people from globalization processes. The author warns that in this case, the excluded members of society will refuse the one-sided logic of structural domination, and as a result, the process of breaking ties will become mutual and uncontrollable.

Although in this book the central place is given to the consideration of macroeconomic processes, the author does not ignore such an important point for us as the development of cities in the information age. The “global city” is seen primarily as a process , not as a place. In the context of a network society, processes are many flows that subordinate the interaction space to their tasks.

Flows are interpreted as purposeful, repeating, programmed sequences of exchanges and interactions between physically separated positions occupied by social actors in the economic, political and symbolic structures of society.

M. Castells notes that the subjects of activity are not individual cities, but large agglomerations. The growth of infrastructure makes it possible to reduce the importance of the factor of territorial proximity, while communication networks become the basis of social and economic ties.

So, M. Castells examines social processes on a macro scale, without giving direct recommendations regarding the strategic management of regions and municipalities. Nevertheless, his work may be useful for local planners at the stage of searching for a strategic planning methodology. In particular, the following basic aspects:

1) even at the level of an individual region or city, it is necessary to study the opportunities and threats of globalization in relation to a given territory. At the same time, special emphasis should be on preventing the exclusion of the territory from globalization processes as a whole or certain categories of the population;

2) attention should be paid to the need for purposeful formation of the population’s identity with its territory;

3) it is necessary, if possible, to make the processes of city management and life support for citizens as technologically advanced as possible, which will not only save resources, but also create an attractive image of the subject of management;

4) it is desirable to begin to form an information society from below: already at the municipal level to implement the strategic task of investing in people by relying on quality education, social health, innovative entrepreneurship, etc.

The purpose of one of the main works of M. Castells “Network structures and the formation information society» is the observation and analysis of the transition process human society in the information age. The transition is based on the revolution in information technology, which in the 1970s laid the foundation for a new technological system that spread throughout the world. Simultaneously with changes in material technology, social and economic structure: relatively rigid and vertically oriented institutions are replaced by flexible and horizontally oriented networks through which power and resource exchange are exercised. For M. Castells, the formation of international business and cultural networks and the development of information technology are inextricably linked and interdependent phenomena. All spheres of life, from the geopolitics of large national states to the everyday life of people, are changing, finding themselves placed in the information space and global networks.

The revolution in information technology is “the starting point in analyzing the complexities of the formation of a new economy, society and culture.” According to M. Castells, technology is a resource potential for the development of society, providing different variants social changes. At the same time, society is largely free to make decisions about its path of movement. To support this position regarding the role of technology in social changes, the author turns to the history of the development of the computer industry in the United States. According to Castells, the invention of the personal computer and the subsequent massification of users were not strictly predetermined by technological laws: the alternative to “personal computer” was the concentration of control over the development of computer technology by large corporations (IBM) and the government. With this path of development of society, totalitarian tendencies of general surveillance are gradually increasing, and the power capabilities of the government, armed with computer technology, are expanding. At the turn of the 50-60s, the danger of monopolization of technology was quite real, however, external reasons (emerging social movements, the flourishing of counterculture, deep liberal and democratic traditions) gradually reduced it to a minimum.

The example of the history of the computer industry demonstrates only a partial dependence of changes in society on technological development, i.e. production. The same important place The author devotes experience, considered as the impact of human subjects on themselves, through the changing relationship between their biological and cultural identities. Along with production and experience, the third important factor influencing the organization human activity, is power. In society, the production factor, which means the development of computer technology, has a dominant influence on both power relations and culture.

Thus, the core of the transformations that the modern world is experiencing is associated with information processing and communication technologies. M. Castells offers a sociological description and understanding of the main points in the history of the formation of this kind of technology, paying much attention to the role of Silicon Valley (a high-tech center in the United States) in the development of the computer industry. The spirit of free enterprise, university intellectualism, and government contracts made Silicon Valley a leader in the computer industry.

M. Castells outlines the boundaries of the information technology paradigm, which has several main features. Firstly, information within the framework of the proposed paradigm is the raw material of technology and, therefore, first of all, technology affects information, but not vice versa. Secondly, the effects of new technologies cover all types of human activity. Third, information technology initiates the network logic of changes in the social system. Fourth, the information technology paradigm is based on flexibility, where the ability to reconfigure becomes a “decisive feature in society.” Fifthly, an important characteristic of the information technology paradigm is the convergence of specific technologies in a highly integrated system, when, for example, microelectronics, telecommunications, optical electronics and computers are integrated into information systems. Taken together, the characteristics of the information technology paradigm are the foundation of the information society.

It becomes an ever-present background, the fabric of our lives. Thus, according to M. Castells, a new culture is emerging, “the culture of real virtuality.” Real virtuality is a system in which reality itself is completely captured and immersed in virtual images, in a fictional world where external images are not just on the screen, but themselves become experiences. Along with television, the development of electronic computer networks is becoming a factor that can be considered formative for culture virtual reality. M. Castells explores the stages of the formation of the Internet, i.e. its transformation from a local computer network for military purposes into a new global reality of the information age. He believes that “computer communication is not a universal means of communication and will not be so in the foreseeable future.” "New electronic media do not separate from traditional cultures; they absorb them." Members of these communities may be separated in physical space, but in virtual space they can be as traditional as communities in small towns.

M. Castells uses network theory to analyze changes occurring in the urban environment of the information society. Network structures are reproduced both at the intracity level and at the level of relations between global cities. In global cities, information and power nodes are appearing, which close the main flows of information, financial resources and become points for making management decisions. Resource flows run between these nodes, and the nodes themselves are in constant competition with each other. He sees megacities as large-scale centers of "global dynamism", cultural and political innovation and connecting points of all kinds of global networks. Thus, M. Castells gives a clear description of the processes occurring in the structure of cities during the transition to the information age.

The study of spatial transformations is not limited to the analysis of the urban environment, based on rich empirical material - the reader is invited to social theory space and theory of flow space. By flows, M. Castells understands “purposeful, repeating, programmed sequences of exchanges and interactions between physically separated positions that are occupied by social actors in the economic, political and symbolic structures of society.” Thus, “the space of flows is the material organization of social practices in divided time, working through flows.” The author sees the space of flows as three layers of material support: the first layer consists of a chain of electronic pulses; the second layer consists of nodes and communication centers; the third layer refers to the spatial organization of the dominant managerial elites performing management functions.

The elites of the information society can be considered as a spatially limited network subculture in which a lifestyle is formed that allows them to unify their own symbolic environment around the world. The layers of material support that take shape in the space of flows form the infrastructure of the society that M. Castells calls informational.

E. I. Knyazeva The concept of the “network society” is one of the components of the holistic theory of the information society of Manuel Castells, which covers almost all areas of human activity and allows us to assess the fundamental consequences of the revolution in information technology. This theory is a variation of the theory of the information society, which began its development in the second half of the 60s, as a modification of the concept post-industrial society. The peak of its popularity came in the early 70s, when many researchers agreed with the conclusion that in the new conditions, “culture, psychology, social life and the economy are formed under the influence of technology and electronics, especially computers and communications, the production process is no longer the main decisive factor.” a factor of change influencing the morals, social structure and values of society." Castells does not use the usual terminology of this theory, noting that the term “information society” only emphasizes the role of information in society, but information, in his opinion, is in itself in a broad sense, that is, as the transmission of knowledge, was of critical importance in all societies, including medieval Europe. The term “informational” indicates an attribute of a specific form social organization, in which, thanks to new technological conditions emerging in a given historical period, the generation, processing and transmission of information have become fundamental sources of productivity and power. This approach distinguishes M. Castells from the ranks of adherents of the traditional version of post-industrialism. Castells considers the social structure emerging today on a global scale as a network society, the most important feature of which is not even the dominance of information or knowledge, but a change in the direction of their use, as a result of which main role in people's lives they acquire global, network structures that displace previous forms of personal and material dependence.

Castells emphasizes that he refers to the social structure of the information age as the network society because “it is created by networks of production, power and experience that form a culture of virtuality in global flows crossing time and space... Not all social dimensions and institutions follow the logic of the network society, like how industrial societies over time included numerous pre-industrial forms of human existence. But all information age societies are indeed permeated—with varying intensities—by the ubiquitous logic of the network society, whose dynamic expansion gradually absorbs and subjugates pre-existing social forms.” Castells defines the network society as a dynamic open system that allows innovation without losing balance. “Networks are tools suitable for capitalist economy , based on renewal, globalization and decentralized concentration; for the work of workers and firms based on mobility and adaptability; for a culture with endless deconstruction and reconstruction; for a policy aimed at the instantaneous processing of values and public sentiments, and for a social organization aimed at the suppression of space and the destruction of time." A network, according to Castells, is a set of interconnected nodes. The specific content of each node depends on the nature of the particular network structure in question. These include, for example, securities markets and their supporting centers when it comes to the network of global financial flows. These include the councils of ministers of various European states when it comes to the political network structure of the governance of the European Union, etc. According to the law of network structures, the distance (or intensity and frequency of interactions) between two points (or social positions) is less when both of them act as nodes in a particular network structure than when they do not belong to the same network. On the other hand, within a given network structure, flows either have the same distance to nodes, or this distance is completely zero. Thus, the distance (physical, social, economic, political, cultural) to a given point is in the range of values from zero (if we are talking about any node in the same network) to infinity (if we are talking about any point located outside this network). Inclusion in or exclusion from network structures, along with the configuration of relationships between networks embodied by information technology, determines the configuration of dominant processes and functions in modern societies. Networks decentralize execution and distribute decision making. They don't have a center. They operate on the basis of binary logic: inclusion/exclusion. Everything that is included in the network is useful and necessary for its existence; everything that is not included does not exist from the point of view of the network, and can be ignored or eliminated. If a network node ceases to perform a useful function, it is rejected by it and the network is reorganized again. Some nodes are more important than others, but they are all necessary as long as they are online. There is no systemic dominance of nodes. Nodes increase their importance by accumulating more information and using it more efficiently. The significance of nodes stems not from their specific features, but from their ability to distribute information. In this sense, master nodes are not central nodes, but switching nodes that follow network logic rather than command logic. Networks are a very old form of social organization, but in the information age they are becoming information networks enhanced by information technology. Networks have an advantage over traditional hierarchically organized morphological connections. They are also the most fluid and adaptive forms of organization, able to evolve with their environment and the evolution of the nodes that make up the networks. The dynamism of the social structure of the network society, its global reach, determined by financial markets, military technologies, and information flows, make the network society an expanding system, penetrating in different ways and with different intensities into all societies. But it is precisely these differences that are extremely important when we try to understand the real processes of life and death of a given country in given time. What kind of network society is before us? What are the different forms of penetration of network logic into different areas of social, economic and political organization? These questions become critical to understanding the new realities emerging anywhere around the turn of the century. The network society is not a modern success model; Castells emphasizes, rather, this is an extremely general characteristic of the emerging social structure. At one time, this was what industrial society was like. Since the pace of establishment of the information society varies from country to country, and the forms of interaction with pre-existing social structures are varied, analysis of possible states, such as that made by Miguel Castells, can serve as a key to understanding both stability and crisis in the modern process of social change.

Coursework on the topic

Information society and the concept of M. Castells

INTRODUCTION

The last decades of the 20th century were marked by great changes in information technology, which significantly changed our daily lives. The achievements of scientists in the field of electronics were expressed in the intensive development of mass media, the widespread use of electronic computing technology (in particular personal computers), the construction of global information networks, the development of virtual reality technologies and other technical innovations. Thus, the activities associated with the production, consumption, processing and storage of information were brought to the fore. Information technologies have penetrated so deeply into people's lives that they no longer belong only to the world of science and technology. In this regard, they love to talk and listen, write and read about the information society, where the most important thing is information.

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that in all industrialized countries of the world, under the influence of scientific and technological progress, the productive forces of society have significantly increased, and significant changes have occurred in the field of engineering and technology. A production industry related to information technology has emerged, thanks to which new directions in scientific research and culture have emerged. These changes have a complex impact on the entire society and lead to significant transformations in the industrial and spiritual life of a person. Many philosophers and sociologists of our time assign the main role in these transformations to the processes of informatization and computerization, and the transformation process itself is called the formation of the information society. According to philosophers and sociologists, significant changes in people's lives are both positive and negative.

But, despite the ambiguous nature of such assessments, most researchers believe that the rejection of the processes of informatization and modernization in any country will lead to a suspension of global development trends in it and will make it an appendage of other, more developed countries. Everything that happens within the technical and technological process directly affects people’s lives, changes the nature of society and its priorities. Therefore, research into the processes associated with the formation of the information society is so relevant.

Currently, the prerequisites for the formation and development of the information society in Russia are understood. Therefore, the problem of informatization and the formation of an information society is currently one of the most pressing. This process is global in nature; it is inevitable that our country will join the global information community, which in turn will entail changes in the consciousness of society.

The purpose of this course work get acquainted with the emergence and development of the information society from a philosophical point of view, determine what this society is and identify the processes characteristic of it, and also consider the concept of the information society by M. Castells.

The object of research is society, which, according to its inherent characteristics, can be considered as a separate phenomenon in a social, philosophical and psychological key.

The subject of the study is informatization, under the influence of which the processes occurring in society undergo changes, and therefore society itself changes.

1. The idea of the information society

1.1 The role and significance of information revolutions

In the history of the development of civilization, several information revolutions have occurred - transformations of social relations due to fundamental changes in the field of information processing. The consequence of such transformations was the acquisition of a new quality by human society.

The first revolution was associated with the invention of writing, which led to a gigantic qualitative and quantitative leap. There is an opportunity to transfer knowledge from generation to generation.

The second (mid-16th century) was caused by the invention of printing, which radically changed industrial society, culture, and organization of activities.

Third ( late XIX c.) is due to the invention of electricity, thanks to which the telegraph, telephone, and radio appeared, making it possible to quickly transmit and accumulate information in any volume.

The fourth (70s of the XX century) is associated with the invention of microprocessor technology and the advent of the personal computer. Computers, computer networks, and data transmission systems (information communications) are created using microprocessors and integrated circuits. This period is characterized by three fundamental innovations:

1. transition from mechanical and electrical means of information conversion to electronic ones;

2. miniaturization of all components, devices, instruments, machines;

3. creation of software-controlled devices and processes.

To create a more holistic picture of this period, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the information below about the change in generations of electronic computers (computers) and compare this information with the stages in the field of information processing and transmission.

1st generation (early 50s). The element base is electronic tubes. Computers were distinguished by their large dimensions, high energy consumption, low speed, low reliability, and programming in codes.

2nd generation (from the late 50s). Element base - semiconductor elements. All technical characteristics have improved compared to the previous generation computers. Algorithmic languages are used for programming.

3rd generation (early 60s). Element base - integrated circuits, multilayer printed circuit assembly. A sharp reduction in the size of computers, increasing their reliability, increasing productivity. Access from remote terminals.

4th generation (from the mid-70s). The element base is microprocessors, large integrated circuits. Technical characteristics have been improved. Mass production of personal computers. Directions of development: powerful multiprocessor computing systems with high performance, creation of cheap microcomputers.

5th generation (from the mid-80s). The development of intelligent computers began, but has not yet been successful. Introduction into all areas of computer networks and their integration, use of distributed data processing, widespread use of computer information technologies.

The latest information revolution brings to the fore a new industry - the information industry, associated with the production of technical means, methods, technologies for the production of new knowledge. All types of information technologies, especially telecommunications, are becoming the most important components of the information industry. Modern information technology is based on advances in the field of computer technology and communications.

Information technology (IT) is a process that uses a set of tools and methods for collecting, processing and transmitting data ( primary information) to obtain new quality information about the state of an object, process or phenomenon.

Telecommunications - remote data transmission based on computer networks and modern technical means of communication.

The rapid development of computer technology and information technology gave impetus to the development of a society built on the use of various information and called the information society.

1.2 The concept of the information society

Japanese scientists believe that in the information society, the computerization process will give people access to reliable sources of information, relieve them of routine work, and ensure a high level of automation of information processing in the industrial and social spheres. The driving force behind the development of society should be the production of informational, rather than material, products. The material product will become more information-intensive, which means an increase in the share of innovation, design and marketing in its value.

In the information society, not only production will change, but also the entire way of life, the value system, and the importance of cultural leisure in relation to material values will increase. Compared to an industrial society, where everything is aimed at the production and consumption of goods, in the information society intelligence and knowledge are produced and consumed, which leads to an increase in the share of mental labor. A person will need the ability to be creative, and the demand for knowledge will increase.

The material and technological base of the information society will be various kinds of systems based on computer equipment and computer networks, information technology, and telecommunications.

The information society is a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

In the actual practice of the development of science and technology in advanced countries at the end of the 20th century. The picture of the information society created by theorists is gradually taking on visible shape. It is predicted that the entire world space will transform into a single computerized and information community of people living in electronic apartments and cottages. Any home is equipped with all kinds of electronic devices and computerized devices. Human activities will be focused primarily on information processing, while material and energy production will be entrusted to machines.

During the transition to the information society, a new information processing industry is emerging based on computer and telecommunication information technologies. [ 2, p. 34]

A number of scientists highlight the characteristic features of the information society:

The problem of the information crisis has been solved, i.e. the contradiction between the information avalanche and information hunger is resolved;

The priority of information is ensured compared to other resources;

The main form of development will be the information economy;

The basis of society will be the automated generation, storage, processing and use of knowledge using the latest information technology and technology;

Information technology will become global in nature, covering all areas of human social activity;

The information unity of the entire human civilization is being formed;

With the help of computer science, every person has free access to information resources the entire civilization;

Humanistic principles of social management and environmental impact have been implemented. In addition to the positive aspects, dangerous trends are also predicted:

The increasing influence of the media on society;

Information technology can destroy the privacy of people and organizations;

There is a problem of selecting high-quality and reliable information;

Many people will find it difficult to adapt to the information society environment.

There is a danger of a gap between the "information elite" (people involved in the development of information technologies) and consumers. The closest countries on the path to the information society are countries with a developed information industry, which include the USA, Japan, England, Germany, and other countries. Western Europe. In these countries, one of the directions of public policy has long been one related to investment and support for innovation in the information industry, in the development of computer systems and telecommunications.

1.3 The process of informatization of society

The activities of individuals, groups, teams and organizations are now increasingly beginning to depend on their awareness and ability to effectively use available information. Before taking any action, it is necessary to carry out a lot of work on collecting and processing information, understanding it and analyzing it. Finding rational solutions in any area requires processing large amounts of information, which is sometimes impossible without the use of special technical means.

The increase in the volume of information became especially noticeable in the middle of the 20th century. An avalanche-like flow of information rushed at a person, not giving him the opportunity to perceive this information fully. It became increasingly difficult to navigate the new stream of information that appeared every day.

Sometimes it has become more profitable to create a new material or intellectual product than to search for an analogue made earlier. The formation of large flows of information is due to:

Extremely rapid growth in the number of documents, reports, dissertations, reports, etc., which present the results scientific research and development work;

An ever-increasing number of periodicals on different areas human activity;

The appearance of various data (meteorological, geophysical, medical, economic, etc.), usually recorded on magnetic tapes and therefore not falling within the scope of the communication system.

As a result, an information crisis (explosion) occurs, which has the following manifestations:

Contradictions appear between the limited human capabilities for perceiving and processing information and the existing powerful flows and arrays of stored information;

There is a large amount of redundant information that makes it difficult to perceive information useful to the consumer;

Certain economic, political and other social barriers arise that impede the dissemination of information.

For example, due to secrecy, employees of different departments often cannot use the necessary information.

These reasons have given rise to a very paradoxical situation - the world has accumulated enormous information potential, but people cannot use it to its full extent due to the limitations of their capabilities. The information crisis has confronted society with the need to find ways out of this situation. Introduction of computers, modern means processing and transmission of information to various fields of activity was the beginning of a new evolutionary process, called informatization, in the development of human society at the stage of industrial development.

Informatization of society is an organized socio-economic and scientific-technical process of creating optimal conditions for meeting information needs and realizing the rights of citizens, government bodies, local governments, organizations, public associations based on the formation and use of information resources.

The history of the development of informatization began in the USA in the 60s, then in the 70s. - in Japan and since the late 70s - in Western Europe.

Modern material production and other areas of activity increasingly require information services and processing of huge amounts of information. A universal technical means of processing any information is a computer, which plays the role of an amplifier of the intellectual capabilities of a person and society as a whole, and communication tools using computers serve to communicate and transmit information. The emergence and development of computers is a necessary component of the process of informatization of society.

Informatization of society is one of the laws of modern social progress. This term is increasingly replacing the term “computerization of society,” which was widely used until recently. Despite the external similarity of these concepts, they have a significant difference.

When computerizing society, the main attention is paid to the development and implementation of the technical base of computers that ensure prompt receipt of the results of information processing and its accumulation.

When informatizing society, the main attention is paid to a set of measures aimed at ensuring the full use of reliable, comprehensive and timely knowledge in all types of human activity.

Thus, “informatization of society” is a broader concept than “computerization of society” and is aimed at quickly mastering information to meet one’s needs. In the concept of "informatization of society" the emphasis should be placed not so much on technical means, how much on the essence and purpose of socio-technical progress. Computers are a basic technical component of the process of informatization of society.

Informatization based on the introduction of computer and telecommunication technologies is society’s response to the need for a significant increase in labor productivity in the information sector of social production, where more than half of the working population is concentrated. For example, more than 60% of the working population is employed in the information sector in the United States, and about 40% in the CIS.

electronic business economics institutional

2. The institutional approach in the concept of M. Castells and its influence on the development of ideas of the information society

2.1 Manuel Castells

Manuel Castells (Spanish Manuel Castells; born 1942) is an American sociologist of Spanish origin.

He is considered one of the largest sociologists of our time, specializing in the theory of the information society. He studied in Paris with Alain Touraine. At first scientific career studied problems of urbanism. He taught sociology at the Higher School of Social Sciences (Paris, France). Since 1979 - professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

As a visiting professor, he lectured at major universities in the world. Since 1984, he repeatedly visited the USSR, and then Russia.

Manuel Castells' study "The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture" (1996-1998. "The Information Age" consists of three volumes: "The Rise of the Network Society", "The Power of Identity" and "The End of the Millennium"). This research has had a huge impact on modern social sciences. M. Castells' work includes more than 1200 pages and is an encyclopedic analysis of the role of information in modern society. After the release of this three-volume work, some observers put M. Castells on a par with Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim.

In 1972 Castells published a pioneering article, "The Urban Question: A Marxist Approach", influenced by structuralist Marxism. In 1979 invited to the University of Berkeley (California), where he holds the position of professor of urban and regional planning and sociology. Lives in California (San Francisco), but constantly visits different countries - he has been a visiting professor at more than 20 universities around the world. After his first work, Castells established a strong reputation as an urban studies researcher. In 1989 he published the book “The Informational City”, where the concept of “informationalism” first appeared, which was developed in his main work “The Information Age”.

M. Castells is a post-Marxist and active social democrat. He criticizes communism as an ideological movement; in his opinion, “all utopias lead to terror if a serious attempt is made to bring them to life.”

2.2 Network society and the information age

In his works, M. Castells does not use the concept of “information society”. In his opinion, all societies used information and were therefore information societies. The term “Information Age,” in his opinion, has great analytical value, because allows us to describe a certain period of change that has gradually increased since the 1970s.

Castells introduces a new term - "informationalism", which means "the impact of knowledge on knowledge as the main source of productivity." The development of informationalism, according to Castells, leads to the emergence of a network society and a “new economy.”

When describing modernity, Castells prefers the term “information capitalism,” which is a particularly ruthless form of capitalism because it combines incredible flexibility with a global presence.

In his three-volume work “The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture,” Castells shows the features of the transition to the “information age”, the main feature of which is the networks connecting people, institutions and states. This has many consequences, the most significant being the possible widening of the gap between increasing global activity and worsening social divisions. Castells explores two sides of this issue:

* ways in which globalization enhances the integration of people, economic and social processes;

* processes of fragmentation and disintegration, which are also associated with globalization.

According to Castells, the beginning of the information age dates back to the 1970s, to the capitalist crisis (the end of the so-called post-war order). The crisis accelerated the restructuring of the economy, and it turned out that this process coincided with the emergence of a phenomenon that Castells called “ information method development".

The development of a network society does not mean the death of nation states. There is a tendency to weaken and increase dependence on international processes, but the role of states will still be significant.

Castells's work provides an overview of national strategies and describes various countries, both winners and losers in a globally integrated world. The newest international division of labor may be different, but general direction it has four options:

* producers of high value (based on information labor);

* high-volume manufacturers (based on low labor costs);

* producers of raw materials (based on Natural resources);

* excess producers (using devalued labor).

2.3 Network society and new forms of identity

The main contradiction (and, accordingly, the driving force of development) of the emerging new society based on network structures is the contradiction between the globalization of the world and the identity (originality) of a particular community. Castells, drawing on the concept of the French sociologist Alain Touraine, introduces the concepts of “resistance identity” and “future-oriented identity.” In a network society, along with the state, global networks and individuals, there are communities that unite around the identity of resistance. This resistance is directed against the main trend in the development of modern society - globalization.

An important feature of these communities is their minimal inclusion in the structures of traditional civil society and their, for the most part, protest nature. However, in the future, some of these communities will be able to move from resistance to an identity aimed at the future and thereby be able to create something similar to a “new civil society” and a new state. “The new identity for the future, Castells emphasizes, does not emerge from the former identity of civil society that characterized the industrial age, but from the development of today’s identity of resistance.”

Castells cites the main groups of communities that, in his opinion, can move through the identity of resistance to an identity directed towards the future and thereby contribute to the transformation of society as a whole while maintaining the values of resistance to the interests of global flows of capital and information. These are, first of all, religious, national and territorial communities. Castells emphasizes the need to take into account the ethnic factor, which acts as an important component of both oppression and liberation and is involved in support of other forms of identity (originality) of communities (religious, national, territorial).

Territorial identity and the growth of its global activity leads to a return to historical scene"city-states" as a characteristic feature of the age of globalization. Women's communities and environmental movements also, according to Castells, have the potential to form an identity that looks to the future. A sign of the conformity of these communities new architecture network society is their network, decentralized form of organization and self-organizing systems of information circulation within the community. It is precisely this decentralized, elusive nature of the networked structures of social change, Castells concludes, that makes it so difficult to perceive and identify the new future-oriented identities that are emerging today.

2.4 E-business and the new economy

In his work “Galaxy Internet” (2001), M. Castells focused on the transformation of social relations into various fields influenced by the development of the Internet. It is important that he analyzed the development of electronic business and the new economy taking into account the crisis of the new economy after the sharp fall in shares of high-tech companies (NASDAQ2 index) in 2000-2001. M. Castells warns against the illusory idea that the so-called “new economy” is a fantastic country of unlimited economic growth, capable of darkening business cycles and immune to crises. These illusions were quite widespread until 2000. and partly contributed to the revaluation of shares of Internet companies - the so-called dot-coms (from the English dot-com, i.e. “.com”). If there is a new economy, Castells notes, then there are also and will be new forms of the business cycle and economic crises, modified under the influence of the specifics of the new economy.

Castells begins his analysis of the specifics of the new economy with a study of the “network enterprise” model as the organizational basis of e-business. A network enterprise is understood as an organizational form that is the result of cooperation between various components of different firms, which unite into one network structure for the period of work on a specific business project and reconfigure their networks to implement each of the projects. A network enterprise develops using various network strategies. Castells cites four main types of strategies, emphasizing that in each specific case a different combination is possible.

1. Solving the strategic task of developing a large corporation through the internal decentralization of the company, using integrated horizontal structures that ensure cooperation in the implementation of a specific task;

2. Cooperation of small and medium-sized businesses, pooling their resources to achieve a critical mass sufficient for the success of the project;

3. Linking networks of small and medium-sized businesses with components of large corporations in order to implement a specific project or long-term program;

4. Strategic alliances and partnerships between large corporations and their supporting networks.

Thus, a network enterprise is not a network of enterprises and not an intra-company network structure; it is an additional factor for management economic activity, focusing on specific business projects that are implemented through networks of various compositions and origins. Those. the network is an enterprise. At the same time, the company continues to be an organizational unit that ensures the accumulation of capital, property rights and strategic management, and the practice of business relations is implemented through networks formed for a specific project or program (ad hoc networks1).

Castells recalls that the network enterprise, as a method of doing business, long preceded the development of the Internet and formulates a set of factors that helped to significantly increase the efficiency of network structures based on Internet technologies.

Network scalability. The use of the Internet allows you to include in the network as many components as are required to carry out each operation, each transaction or the entire project. Thus, the network can develop, quickly expand or contract in accordance with changing business strategy, without significant costs.

Interactivity. A network implemented using Internet technologies makes it possible to do without vertical communication channels and ensure multidirectional exchange of information and joint decision-making. The result is an improvement in the quality of information exchange and the achievement of mutual understanding between partners in the process of their business cooperation.

Flexibility of management. The ability to combine strategic management methods with technologies for decentralized interaction of multiple partners is crucial for the network to achieve its stated goals and objectives.

Branding. Receiving investment requires a symbol of a generally recognized ability to impart value to goods and services. In a world of complex production and distribution networks, branding can be carried out mainly on the basis of managing the innovation process and tightly controlling the final results. Effective use of Internet technologies allows for feedback between all network components and production/sales processes, as well as error detection and correction.

Customer focus. Currently, it is increasingly difficult to satisfy the diverse needs of the market through standardized mass production. The optimal balance between mass production and consumer-oriented production can be achieved through the use of a large-scale production network, but with the tailoring of the final product, good or service to a specific customer. This task is solved in many systems through personalized online interaction with the customer.

M. Castells demonstrated the application of these factors using examples of the development of several successful companies that effectively applied network principles and created a network of partners and clients around themselves (Cisco, Nokia, etc.).

When analyzing the formation and functioning of the new economy, Castells pays great attention to the issues of transformation of capital markets and the specifics of market valuation of Internet companies. An important component of this process is venture financing. Without the financing of new enterprises (dot-coms) by venture capital funds, there would be no growth of the new economy. As a result, a kind of vicious circle was formed: venture funds were able to continue to actively finance more and more risky ventures, despite the high mortality rate of supported enterprises (about a third of all projects in the United States), only thanks to the high income of the surviving companies due to the unprecedented valuation of their market capitalization.

The typical funding cycle for e-business innovation in the late 1990s in Silicon Valley began with a bold business plan and a set of ideas about the effectiveness of the proposed venture, framed more in terms of business innovation than technological innovation. After this, the business plan is proposed to a venture fund that is located nearby (a third of all venture capital in the United States is invested in Silicon Valley).

In most cases, the investors are not purely financial companies, but are firms that owe their origins to the technology industry. In most cases, the founders of a venture fund are familiar with the area in which they intend to invest, and attract other investment companies seeking to enter new markets into the activities of their fund. After making a decision to finance an innovative project, the venture fund closely interacts with the newly formed company and actually manages the business project, and this guardianship continues for as long as this company and field of activity is considered promising for attracting investments. At some point, the sponsored company may be sold, and the proceeds will go to a venture fund and be used for further investments.

At the same time, many projects fail before reaching the implementation stage or fail in the market. However, the financial return from successfully operating enterprises turns out to be so great that the income of venture funds on average is much higher than the profitability of traditional financial investments.

Using initial investments received from a venture fund, the initiators of an innovative idea found a company, hired key performers and paid them with options, i.e. expected income for future years. At the same time, work is underway on the public offering of shares of the new company on the stock market (IPO).

The market reaction, Castells notes, always corresponds to the pragmatic rules of economics - the company's ability to generate revenue and make a profit, but the timing of such an assessment varies widely. Expectations of high returns can often prolong investors' patience, thereby giving innovation a chance to shine. The model of rapid development of an innovative company includes three main factors:

* presence of innovative ideas and relevant technological developments;

* entrepreneurial creativity;

* financial market support based on the expectations of venture capital.

According to Castells, this scheme is used not only among newly formed Internet companies (the most famous are Yahoo!, e-Bay, Amazon), but also large technology companies (Intel, Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Dell, Oracle, EMC and even Hewlett Packard and Microsoft at the beginning of their existence).

2.5 Problems of development of the network society

A new social form - the network society - is spreading across the planet in all the diversity of its manifestations and demonstrating significant differences in the consequences of this process for people's lives. The specifics of transformations depend on historical, cultural and institutional factors, and these processes bring both favorable opportunities and negative consequences.

In conclusion to his work “The Internet Galaxy,” M. Castells formulated the main problems that currently hinder the development of the network society. In his opinion, resistance to the development of a network society and dissatisfaction with this world are largely associated with a number of unmet demands.

1. Internet governance, i.e. freedom as such. The Internet, as a network of networks, is gradually becoming the communication basis of the network society, however, there is a danger that this infrastructure may end up in someone’s property, and access to the network may become the object of control;

2. Availability large quantity excluded from the network. This segregation occurs in various ways and for various reasons: due to the lack of technical infrastructure; due to economic or institutional barriers to accessing networks; lack of educational and cultural opportunities to harness the potential of the Internet; shortcomings in the production of online content;

3. Problems with the development of abilities to process information and generate relevant knowledge. By this Castells does not mean skills in using the Internet, but education in a broader and in a fundamental sense- i.e. acquiring the intellectual ability to learn to learn throughout life, to find and process information, and use it to produce knowledge;

4. Challenges associated with transformation labor relations. The emergence of a network enterprise and the individualization of employment schemes leads to changes in mechanisms social protection, on which the relations of production of the industrial world were based;

5. The new economy is lagging behind the introduction of new flexible procedures for institutional regulation. The shift towards computerized global networks as the organizational basis of capital has largely undermined the regulatory capacities of both national governments and international institutions. The systemic instability of global financial markets and the huge imbalances in the use of human resources, according to Castells, require new forms of regulation adapted to new technologies and the new market economy;

6. The danger of increasing the intensity of exploitation of natural resources and increasing environmental degradation. Castells notes that network technologies can stimulate economic growth at the expense of environment, but there are also alternative trends: effective management of environmental information prevents the predatory exploitation of nature and allows environmental organizations to monitor this process;

7. The most frightening thing, Castells writes, is the fear of technological devices created by him going out of human control. This extends to the emerging fields of genetic engineering, nanotechnology and microelectronics, the convergence of which can lead to unexpected discoveries, the use of which is associated with high social and ethical responsibility.

Castells ends his description of the problems with the question: who should deal with these problems and resolve the systemic conflicts and contradictions that arise? Represented by characters, leading our transition to the information age? In traditional democracies these were usually governments acting in the interests of the whole society. However, the crisis of legitimacy that extends to today's state power does not allow the responsibility to be completely shifted to the current authorities. Castells asks: “How can we entrust the lives of our children to authorities controlled by parties, who usually operate in conditions of systemic corruption, completely dependent on the “politics of image”, running isolated bureaucracies with no understanding of real life their citizens? But on the other hand, is there an alternative to them?

CONCLUSION

Thus, taking into account the considered theories, we can identify a number of features inherent in the modern information society.

1. Growth of the service sector and the role of services in industry and agriculture.

2. The dominance of the post-Fordist economy (flexibility of production, flexibility of consumption and flexibility of markets). Intensification of the globalization process.

3. Dissemination of flexible specialization and flexible employment.

5. The dominance of network forms of organization and activity. Destruction of habitual hierarchies. The increasing role of identity issues in the “networked world.”

6. Expanding the scope of market criteria (inclusion in this sphere of information aspects of social life).

7. The emergence of information inequality, which, superimposed on traditional inequality, deepens social differentiation.

8. The dominance of corporate capitalism as a mode of production. The central role of huge corporations in the global economy.

9. Increase in the amount of information garbage. Expanding the scope of information manipulation (“perception management”) and the crisis in the sphere of public information.

10. Successes of reflexive modernization: expansion of the space of choice and the growth of reflexivity due to it.

11. A sharp increase in the volume and quality of tracking by the state and corporations. The emergence of attempts to retaliate and control them on the part of citizens.

12. The emergence of a new type of war - information wars.

All these features, of course, do not allow us to draw a conclusion about the presence or absence of a new type of society. Moreover, all these characteristics will generally say little about modern society from a typological point of view, unless some starting point is set. We are of the opinion that the twentieth century is a time of “great evolutionary turning point” in the history of mankind. And that the last quarter of the twentieth century (the time of the creation of the “information society” and theories about it) is only one of the phases of the mentioned turning point.

Another aspect of the evolutionary turning point of the second half of the 20th century is that the historical process from spontaneous and uncontrollable by people turned into projectable and manageable. To say only that it is planned and controlled by people is to say something meaningless. It is necessary to indicate exactly by what forces and how exactly it is planned and controlled. The subject that designs the course of the historical process and controls it is the huge multitude of people of the Western world, uniting into a global Westernist super society, which was mentioned. This super society organizes the whole western world into a single whole, aims and organizes it to conquer the entire planet. A huge number of specialists, centers, organizations, institutions, etc. engaged in planning and managing the course of the historical process.

The need to transition to an information society is closely related to the change in the nature of the impact of scientific and technological progress on people's lives. At the end of the 20th century, the speed of change in technological structures in production, technologies for providing products and services, and the management of these processes increased significantly. If at the beginning and even in the middle of the century such changes occurred in periods of time significantly exceeding the lifespan of one or two generations, today a change in the technological structure occurs in a shorter period. At the same time, the lifestyle of the majority of the population, the socio-psychological model of behavior of people and society as a whole is radically changing. The behavior patterns of the current and future generations are beginning to differ especially significantly - known issue"fathers and sons". Obviously, one of the factors that can, to a certain extent, weaken the impact of such changes in lifestyle on a person’s psyche is the level of information readiness of a person for future changes.

All of the above determines the emergence and need to solve a complex socially significant problem - creating a socio-psychological model of behavior for a member of the information society, identifying “points” and methods of influence that will ensure normal adaptation and comfortable existence of a person in the information society, and reduce contradictions between generations.

Castells sees a way out of the institutional crisis of the modern transformative society in the development of two already existing trends (increasing the social responsibility of business and expanding the powers of non-governmental organizations) and, most importantly, in the restructuring of existing institutions of governance and democracy to the conditions of the approaching network society. It seems that the most effective influence is exerted by the education system, which should accustom the child, adolescent and adult to the need for constant changes in lifestyle, to perceive, follow and maintain national traditions and cultural heritage of their country.

Bibliography

1. Castells M. The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business and Society. Ekaterinburg, 2011. P. 83 - 140;

2. Castells M. Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. M.: State University Higher School of Economics, 2000. P. 157 - 313, 399 - 434, 455 - 464;

3. Castells M. The power of originality // New post-industrial wave in the West: Anthology / Ed. V.L. Inozemtseva. M., 2009. P. 292 - 308;

4. Castells M. Formation of a society of network structures// New post-industrial wave in the West: Anthology / Ed. V.L. Inozemtseva. M., 1999. P.492 - 505;

5. Webster F. Theories of the information society. M.: Aspect Press, 2008. P. 130 - 164;

6. Parinov S.I. Toward the theory of network economics. Novosibirsk: IEOPP SB RAS, 2012. P.15 - 38.

7. Elyakov, A.D. Modern information society [Text] / A.D. Elyakov // Higher education in Russia. - M.: 2011. - 115 p.

8. Zemlyanova L.M. Modern American communication studies: theoretical concepts, problems, forecasts. - M. [Text]: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2005. - 95 p.

9. Inozemtsev V.L. For ten years. Towards the concept of post-economic society. [Text] / Scientific publication. Moscow: "Academia", 2008, 576 p.

10. Internet and modern society. [Text] // St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University Publishing House, 2009. - 284 p.

11. Korotkov A.V., Kristalny B.V., Kurnosov I.N. State policy of the Russian Federation in the field of development of the information society. [Text] // Sub scientific. ed. A.V. Korotkova - M.: Train LLC, 2007. 472 p.

Social knowledge and social ideal. Social ideal

Similar documents