Class Warfare in the Information Age 1st Edition

by Michael Perelman (Author)

3 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0312177584

ISBN-10: 0312177585

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Mention of class struggle evokes images of a grimy age in which bygone captains of industry callously oppressed armies of overworked and underpaid proletarians. This dark portrait of class conflict stands in sharp contrast with the glorious promise of an information age. In Class Warfare in the Information Age, Michael Perelman shows how class conflict continues to remain a contemporary issue. He challenges the notion that, with the help of the modern computer and telecommunication technologies, we can look forward to life in a well-educated society in which anybody with even a modicum of intelligence and discipline can enjoy a more than comfortable existence. In a relatively jargon-free economic and political analysis, Perelman reveals how the efforts of business to profit from the sale of information will result in the reduction of access to information, rather than an increase. 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, it will still be a class-based privilege to access and afford information, and the rights of individuals will disintegrate as the power of the corporate sector grows. Class Warfare in an Information Age is a refreshingly critical work which forces readers to rethink the conventional hype surrounding the information superhighway.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (March 15, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312177585
ISBN-13: 978-0312177584
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
Average Customer Review: 3 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,598,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2521 in Books > Textbooks > Business & Finance > Economics > Economic Theory
- #3327 in Books > Law > Intellectual Property
- #7281 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Theory

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Walt Byars

Good analysis of the information "revolution"

April 23, 2006

Format: 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.

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Peter Timusk

Good try and some good points

March 30, 2002

Format: 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!

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Alexa Brodelyn

Well worth the read, in spite of its faults

September 22, 1999

Format: 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.

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