Class Warfare in the Information Age [Paperback]

Michael Perelman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000 | ISBN-10: 031222477X | ISBN-13: 978-0312224776

In Class Warfare in the Information Age, Michael Perelman reveals how the efforts of business to profit from the sale of information will result in a reduction rather than an increase in access to information. He demonstrates how the treatment of information as a commodity will cause it to be more regulated and less accessible. In the future, Perelman argues, accessing and affording information will still be a class-based privilege, and the rights of individuals will disintegrate as the power of the corporate sector grows. Class Warfare in the Information Age is a refreshingly critical work that forces readers to rethink the conventional hype surrounding the information superhighway.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Perelman's wry sense of humor . . . makes this excellent book surprisingly readable and one that deserves to be widely read.” —Choice

“Contends that, for the most part, the information technologies are not being applied to improve the quality of life; rather, they are being used to perfect command and control processes, often at the expense of the well-being of workers.” —Journal of Economic Literature

About the Author

Michael Perelman is Professor of Economics at California State University, Chico. His most recent books are The End of Economics; The Pathology of the US Economy: The Costs of a Low-Wage System; and The Natural Instability of Markets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031222477X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312224776
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,439,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the read, in spite of its faults, September 22, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Adelaide, South Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Class Warfare in the Information Age (Hardcover)

We need intelligent critiques of Toffler-style rhetoric (as opposed to tirades by resentful hippies), and this is one. Lots of good ideas here. Problems: Perelman generalises so much he sometimes contradicts himself; the exclusively U.S. focus was frustrating to this foreigner (must be worse for non-Westerners); there might have been attention paid to the ways in which IT has been used as a means of resistance, to complete the picture. But it should be read. An excellent starting point for discussion.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good analysis of the information "revolution", April 23, 2006

By 

Walt Byars (Tampa, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Class Warfare in the Information Age (Paperback)

In this accessible and entertaining book, Perelman documents the class nature of the supposed revolution in information, the extent to which their has been such a revolution, and its implications for economic policy.

Perelman first questions supposed indicators of the extent to which an information economy has arisen. In addition to the usual arguments that the fact that certain jobs have become primarily informational doesn't indicate that the total amount of work relating to information has increased, Perelman explores the class nature of such phenomena. The development of capitalism has been a process in which the knowledge of workers has been expropriated and monopolized by capitalists. Thus, the number of job descriptions that are "informational" has increased, and most of these jobs are administrators who now deal with information that workers used to.

Perelman shows how advances in information technology have been used to control the labor process. he cites examples of specific technologies that are inefficient but give capital greater control over labor. He also gives numerous quotes of higher ups in information technology companies explaining that this is the most important function of their product.

He then shows how the deprivation of workers of information hurts innovation and product quality. A chapter on Panopticism outlines how informantion technology has been used for social control beyond the labor process.

The last few chapters involve economic theory. Drawing heavily on Kenneth Arrow, Perelman shows how the theory taught in ECON 101 shows that information is a good to be produced by the state. Paul Krugman's latest awful micro intro text mentions this in fact, but only gives it a little space.

the last chapter is a good criticism of Hayek's arguments about the informational efficiency of capitalism.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good try and some good points, March 30, 2002

By 

Peter Timusk "exhausted scholar" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Class Warfare in the Information Age (Paperback)

I saw this in the school library as perhaps a left wing, no, marxist view of the sociology of cyberspace. It is a good attempt. Yes, it follows many of the current writers in sociology on cyberspace(like Castells) and the so called information revolution which I live everyday. It also looks at work and Taylorism well. I can't find any faults with it really. But does he do the title justice? I think, yes, he covers the sociology of work and the ideas of being replaced by a computer well. I also think he attempts to break out of the mold of much of the unoriginal writing being done on cyberpsace these days in the schools. He doesn't seem like a hipppy as one other reviewer noted. I don't get the idea that Perelman is a libertarian living on the West Coast nor do I think he is rich. He does seem to be an academic economist though. Good work Perelman!