Page "Information society" Paragraph 18

The major critique of concepts such as information society, knowledge society, network society, postmodern society, postindustrial society, etc.

that has mainly been voiced by critical scholars is that they create the impression that we have entered a completely new type of society.

" If there is just more information then it is hard to understand why anyone should suggest that we have before us something radically new " ( Webster 2002a: 259 ).

Critics such as Frank Webster argue that these approaches stress discontinuity, as if contemporary society had nothing in common with society as it was 100 or 150 years ago.

Such assumptions would have ideological character because they would fit with the view that we can do nothing about change and have to adopt to existing political realities ( Webster 2002b: 267 ).

These critics argue that contemporary society first of all is still a capitalist society oriented towards accumulating economic, political, and cultural capital.

They acknowledge that information society theories stress some important new qualities of society ( notably globalization and informatization ), but charge that they fail to show that these are attributes of overall capitalist structures.

Critics such as Webster insist on the continuities that characterise change.

In this way Webster distinguishes between different epochs of capitalism: laissez-faire capitalism of the 19th century, corporate capitalism in the 20th century, and informational capitalism for the 21st century ( Webster 2006 ).