THE
BOOK
There
is no other book like it anywhere near in sight.
"Netocracy" is a profoundly original work,
boldly crossing all traditional borders between academic
disciplines, comprising philosophy, sociology, history,
economics, business and management theory. It is the
first book so far to penetrate the revolutionary implications
of the ongoing change of dominant information technology
- for the economy, for politics, for culture and the
media.
Everything changes as digital interactivity becomes
the common mode forcommunication, and this book explains
how, and why.
Other
books in the genre are, as a rule, either purely technical
or purely speculative; no other book gives you the
whole picture, firmly rooted in a comprehensive analysis
of the socio-historical process. "Netocracy"
discusses why the three fundamental institutions of
capitalism - the nation-state, the market, the university
- will be changed beyond recognition by the incoming
new technology.
The
old elite will be replaced by a new one, the netocracy,
consisting of people with extreme social skills and
a talent for the manipulation and distribution of
information. Those without this ability to use the
new technology to their own advantage, will consequently
form the lower classes of the digital age, the consumtariat.
"Netocracy"
provides the reader with a coherent analysis of this
process, compares the current changes with similar
mechanisms at work during previous paradigmatic shifts,
and makes it possible for the reader to assess his
or her own prospects in this perspective. Are you,
or will you become a netocrat? What about your friends
or your children? And what about your
company? What strategies of management and communication
are relevant to the new circumstances?
The
enormous adaptation problems the business world is
experiencing in its arduous struggle to come to grips
with the internet, makes the need for this book and
its drastic and clear-sighted analysis obvious. E-trade
was clearly a lot more difficult than anybody expected,
which means that interactive technologies works in
mysterious ways, follows other rules than the established
ones. "The Netocrats" lays out the new rules,
not just for the new economy, but for the digital
society as a whole.
The book gives the reader the necessary historical
orientation and the analytical tools required to survive
and prosper in this brave new world. It addresses
all those vital issues that neither economists, politicians,
or management literature, nor philosophy, communication
theory or the media, have been courageous enough to
tackle. What will happen with parliamentary democracy
in the digital age? What about the nuclear family?
Education Working life? National and international
politics Advertising and entertainment? How will people
form their social identity in the near future, and
what does that implicate? What are the basic laws
of dynamics inside the network, and between many networks?
Which are the all important dos and don’ts? And what
do noisy, new movements like the infamous Attac mean
in the new scenario?
