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Postindustrialism and postmaterialism? A critical view of the "New Economy", the "Information Age", the "High Tech Society", and all that
Postindustrialismus und Postmaterialismus? Ein kritischer Blick auf die "New Economy", das "Informationszeitalter", die "High Tech Society" und all das
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH
Abstract "The theory of postindustrial society and postmaterialist culture can explain neither the structural uniformities of modern society captured by convergence theory nor the national differences captured by theories of democratic corporatism and the mass society. Its depiction of structural changes is ... view more
"The theory of postindustrial society and postmaterialist culture can explain neither the structural uniformities of modern society captured by convergence theory nor the national differences captured by theories of democratic corporatism and the mass society. Its depiction of structural changes is superficial: the service sector is too heterogeneous to describe occupational and industrial trends; the idea of technocratic dominance is overblown and misses big national differences in the location and role of experts and intellectuals. As for postindustrial values, they apply to a small population, a minority even of college students. That these attitudes fluctuate so much with shifting economic conditions and political agendas casts doubt on the idea of a basic shift toward 'postmaterial values'. The literature documenting such shifts is plagued with problems of survey validity. It goes up against a heavy weight of evidence showing that older issues of security, equality, civic order and crime, economic growth and stability are dominant in the politics and mentality of modern populations; that cohort effects are weak to non-existent; that political generational effects are rare and soon fade away; that family life cycle, if carefully delineated, has an impact across a wide range of attitudes and behavior. Most important, differences in national mobilizing structures shape both mass and elite responses to the dilemmas and problems of modern life. Assessing related images of modern society - 'the information age', the 'high-tech society' - the paper finds these equally misleading." (author's abstract)... view less
Die Theorie der postindustriellen Gesellschaft und der postmaterialistischen Kultur sind - so die These des vorliegenden Arbeitspapiers - nicht in der Lage, die strukturellen Gemeinsamkeiten und die nationalen Differenzen der modernen "Massengesellschaft" zu erklären. Die Beschreibungen des Struktur... view more
Die Theorie der postindustriellen Gesellschaft und der postmaterialistischen Kultur sind - so die These des vorliegenden Arbeitspapiers - nicht in der Lage, die strukturellen Gemeinsamkeiten und die nationalen Differenzen der modernen "Massengesellschaft" zu erklären. Die Beschreibungen des Strukturwandels durch diese Ansätze sind oberflächlich: Der Dienstleistungssektor ist zu heterogen, um daraus berufliche und industrielle Trends abzuleiten; die These von der technokratischen Dominanz ist überzogen und ignoriert die Bedeutung von Experten und Intellektuellen. Weiterhin bezweifelt der Autor den behaupteten Trend hin zu "postmaterialistischen" Wertorientierungen. Die empirischen Studien, die diese Entwicklung zu belegen scheinen, kranken alle am Problem der Validität von Umfrageforschung. Gegenüber diesem Wertewandel behauptet der Autor die Persistenz der traditionellen Themen wie Sicherheit, Gleichheit, Angst vor Kriminalität, Wirtschaftswachstum und politische Stabilität in den modernen Gesellschaften. Dies zeigt sich daran, dass bei diesen Themen die Kohorteneffekte zwischen den Generationen schwach ausgeprägt sind. Insgesamt sind daher die im Titel genannten "Zeitdiagnosen" eher irreführend. (ICA)... view less
Keywords
political consciousness; criticism; post-materialism; service society; Intergenerational relations; post-industrial society; technocracy; value change; value-orientation; information society; conservatism; new economy
Classification
Macrosociology, Analysis of Whole Societies
Method
basic research
Document language
English
Publication Year
2003
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
33 p.
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
Data providerThis metadata entry was indexed by the Special Subject Collection Social Sciences, USB Cologne