The life and times of the Information Society

Abstract

The assessment of scholarly literature on the Information Society provided in this paper sets out and distinguishes between the analytical foundations of mainstream and critical contributions from a selection of disciplines and fields with a view to considering why there is so little reciprocal engagement among them, and whether there are new opportunities to promote a dialogue with those who hold the power to establish policies and investment practices with regard to information and communication technologies. Based on a review of hundreds of works, it is argued that a broader range of analytical frameworks needs to be considered if today's policies and strategies in this area are not to perpetuate inequality and injustice. In particular, we need to acknowledge that a plurality of visions of future information societies exists, embracing potentially conflicting values and priorities. More emphasis needs to be given to analytical approaches that privilege human well‐being and inclusivity.

Acknowledgements

A version of this paper was prepared for the Fifth Anniversary Conference of the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, 21–23 September 2008. I am grateful to two anonymous referees for their comments.

Notes

1. Eighty‐six of these works were included in edited volumes under the title, The Information Society (Critical Concepts in Sociology) (see Mansell, 2009).

2. The large literature which focuses mainly on how individuals and organizations learn, or on the values they may have which inform their learning process, is not considered here.

3. Bell is credited with having introduced the term ‘Information Society’.

4. The term first coined by Lewis (1948) in his America and Cosmic Man.

5. The title of The Information Society (Mansell, 2009) was proposed initially as Information Societies before a contract with the publisher was signed. This was in recognition of the diversity of societies in which information and communication play significant roles. That title was reviewed by the editorial group and rejected on the grounds that it was inconsistent with maximizing marketing advantage.

6. There is a long tradition of work in the economics field that has tackled this problem (for example, Lamberton, 1971, 1984).

7. There is legislation in most countries to protect personal information, but initiatives are being devised to collect data on consumer preferences at the individual level, albeit anonymously, without much evidence of resistance on the part of citizens or legislators.

8. See http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html [accessed June 2010].

9. See http://www.un-gaid.org/ [accessed June 2010].

10. See http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml [accessed June 2010].

11. There are aspects of Sen's approach that need to be developed and critiqued (see, for instance, Clark, 2005).

12. See http://www.iwf.org.uk/ [accessed June 2010].

13. In 2008, the European commission adopted a proposal continuing its Safer Internet Programme (2009–13), which addresses communications services from Web 2.0, such as social networking, and is aimed at fighting illegal content and harmful conduct, such as grooming and bullying. Available from http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/programme/index_en.htm [accessed June 2010].

14. This relationship was acknowledged in the Millennium Declaration, 18 September 2000, which under ‘V. Human rights, democracy and good governance’ resolves ‘to ensure the freedom of the media to perform their essential role and the right of the public to have access to information’.

15. See Layard (2005) and the report of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (Stiglitz Commission), which argues for the development of measures to assess well‐being and sustainability and a focus on income and consumption rather than production. See summary at: http://www.stat.si/doc/drzstat/Stiglitz%20report.pdf [accessed June 2010].

16. This work is informed by Maxwell (1984), who argued that human welfare can be improved only by strengthening wisdom, rather than knowledge alone. This work is philosophical in orientation and leaves us with the challenge of deciding whose wisdom is to count.

17. See http://ikmemergent.wordpress.com/ [accessed June 2010].

18. The writer is a member of the steering committee for this programme.