Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Alvin Toffler (Author) "This is a book about power at the edge of the 21st century..." (more)
Key Phrases: smokestack age, smokestack era, smokestack societies, United States, Second Wave, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Knowledge, not violence nor money, is the essence of power in the information age, claims Toffler ( Future Shock ) as he observes "info-wars" raging in such arenas as computers, high-definition TV, electronic networks, and industrial espionage, and the fight for control of customer data by retailers, manufacturers, banks and credit-card issuers. He hails the emerging "flex-firm," a company open to many types of free-form "counterbureaucratic" organization. Toffler credits junk-bond salesman Michael Milken with making finance more competitive and less monopolistic. Assessing the "power triad" of the U.S./Japan/Western Europe, he deems European nations the least stable link, with Germany gaining ascendancy. He looks warily at "Global Gladiators"--drug cartels, Khomeini, multinationals, the Pope--who challenge the boundaries of the nation-state. Toffler's inflated, slogan-slinging probe entertains as it serves up bytes of information and insight, some provocative, some facile.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Following Future Shock ( LJ 7/70) and The Third Wave ( LJ 4/1/80), this final volume of Toffler's trilogy on revolutionary change argues that the control of knowledge has become the principal means to create wealth and power. Aided by the widespread use of computers and other communications technologies, this "powershift," Toffler predicts, will dramatically alter the world's political balance. The superpowers will no longer dominate, since massive military power and control of natural resources will diminish in importance. Access to the latest information will allow developing countries to skip stages of economic growth. On the business level, executives will use knowledge as an instrument to gain control of their companies. Unfortunately, Toffler's thesis suffers from an unclear concept of power, failing to distinguish clearly between influence and the use or threat of force, and some of his claims about the power of knowledge seem exaggerated. The book's best feature is the wide range of information it contains, presented in an easy-to-read style. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/90.
- David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Thus edition (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553292153
• ISBN-13: 978-0553292152
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the book which clarifies the dynamics of the modern world, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

Simply, the most comprehensive and clear view of the possible future I have ever experienced. I read the book in 1992 after having it sit on a bookshelf and collecting dust for over a year. I waited too long! This is one of the most powerful studies of the future which we are now experiencing. Many of the phenomena taking place around us are foreshadowed in this comprehensive and easy to read volume by Heidi and Alvin Toffler.

Clearly, they have looked into the future and given us a road map through which to navigate the post cold war information society which has grown like a virus out of control.

From economic boom (unparalleled post world war II economic expansion) to the rise in religious fanaticism and terrorist activity (including domestic terrorism as witnessed by the Federal Building, the World Trade Center and the attacks on numerous women's health clinics)to the acceleration of the information-communications driven economy ( the internet and its impact on wealth creation was no surprise to Powershift readers).

While many of the things that are foretold in this volume have come true, the open ended nature of those things is what makes reading this now so compelling. The advice and knowledge to be gained here is still valid. We are only in the top half of the first inning but the runs are being scored like mad!

This book serves as a great underpinning of understanding of the dynamics of the new world. Read this and you will be fascinated and energized by the possibilities of the future. The reading is easy and the writing is tight enough to give you the basic ideas and to allow your imagination and view of the future take flight.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Five Really Core Books on Information Age, April 7, 2000

By	Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Alvin augments our vocabulary with terms like "info-warrior", "eco-spasm", "super-symbolic economy" and "powershift." He examines the relationship between violence, wealth, and knowledge and concludes that an entirely new system of wealth creation is emerging, as well as entirely new approach to information dissemination that places most of our command and control, communications, computing, and intelligence (C4I) investment in the dump heap with the Edsels of the past. He anticipates both the emergence of information wars at all levels, and the demise of bureaucracy. He cautions us about the emerging power of the "Global Gladiators"-religions, corporations, and terrorists (nice little mix) and concludes that in order for nations to maintain their strategic edge, an effective intelligence apparatus will be a necessity and will "boom" in the 21st Century, with the privatization of intelligence being its most prominent break from the past.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Valid After all these years, October 29, 2003

By	Robert C. Whitlock "robertwhitleak" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews

I was fortunate enough to have been given this book to read almost 15 years ago. I was unfortunate enough not to have taken full advantage of the information inside it. I basically predicted Walmart's advance using the lowly Barcode, and the current problems that we are experiencing in the middle east due to fundamentalism - not moslem fundamentalism or christian fundamentalism, fundamentalism as a result of our fear of the inevitable pace of change as it increases evermore. The book is still relevant and I find my self quoting it and Mr. Toffler in discussions with friends and family on world affairs.